Re: [ARSCLIST] Urgent Message From SaveNetRadio

[Bob Olhsson <olh@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

-----Original Message-----
>From Miss Q: "...As for the fee cap, it limits fees through 2008 if the
station agrees to
NEVER lobby congress to change the fees. Not exactly a good deal for a year
of broadcasting."


Where do you see a year of broadcasting other than for multi-million dollar
corporations?

- NEWS RELEASE -
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MAY 22, 2007
CONTACT: RICHARD ADES OR
GREGG PERRY
202-640-5894
NEWS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
SoundExchange Extends Offer
to Small Webcasters
Move Responds To Request From Congress To Allow Small Webcasters
More Time With Below-Market Rates
WASHINGTON, D.C. SoundExchange today offered to extend to small webcasters
through 2010 the terms of prior legislation known as the Small Webcaster
Settlement Act
(SWSA) with some minor modifications. The 2002 act that sunset in 2005 had
set
temporary below-market royalty rates for small Internet radio stations in
order to provide
them additional time to build their businesses. SoundExchange's offer to
extend the core
SWSA terms represents a continued subsidy for these small webcasters in the
form of
lower payments to artists and content owners.
Today's offer comes as a direct response to a request from the House
Judiciary
Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property to "initiate
good faith
private negotiations with small commercial and noncommercial webcasters with
the
shared goal of ensuring their continued operations and viability." The
Subcommittee's
request was sent to SoundExchange last week in a letter co-signed by
Representatives
Howard L. Berman (D-CA) and Howard Coble (R-NC)1.
"Although the rates revised by the CRB are fair and based on the value of
music in the
marketplace, there's a sense in the music community and in Congress that
small
webcasters need more time to develop their businesses," said John Simson,
Executive
Director of SoundExchange. "Artists and labels are offering a below-market
rate to
subsidize small webcasters because Congress has made it clear that this is a
policy it
1 Chairman and Ranking Minority Member respectively of the Subcommittee on
Courts, the Internet and
Intellectual Property.
desires to advance, at least for the next few years. We look at it as
artists and labels doing
their part to help small operators get a stronger foothold."
This offer is only for small webcasters and defers the new rates set by the
CRB on May 1,
2007, retroactive to January 1, 2006 and effective through 2010. While the
subsidy is an
effort by SoundExchange to address alleged weaknesses of the small
webcasters'
businesses, SoundExchange noted that this proposal is an adjunct to the CRB
process.
"The copyright royalty judges conducted a thorough and comprehensive legal
proceeding. The judges determined fair rates based upon marketplace evidence
provided
by all parties. Nobody is questioning the integrity of the CRB process,"
said Michael
Huppe, General Counsel of SoundExchange. Indeed, the Subcommittee noted
that, "we
have not yet been provided with a single credible assertion by a party to
the proceeding
that tends to demonstrate the CRB deviated from the process specified in the
Reform
Act."
Huppe added, "This offer is not about displacing the Judges' correct
analysis of the
market, but rather about extending for a limited time the below-market rates
that these
small businesses received several years ago. We have heard the concerns of
Congress
and we are responding."
As suggested by the Subcommittee, SoundExchange is proposing that the
subsidy be
based on a percentage of revenue model and is proposing the same rates that
prevailed
under SWSA: small webcasters would pay royalty fees of 10 percent of all
gross revenue
up to $250,000, and 12 percent for all gross revenue above that amount. The
proposal
includes both a revenue cap and a usage cap to ensure that this subsidy is
used only by
webcasters of a certain size who are forming or strengthening their
business.
"These modest limitations assure that the subsidy is targeted only to those
webcasters that
Congress believes need the additional financial flexibility to build their
businesses. When
a company's revenue or listenership reaches a certain level, our proposal
appropriately
provides that they share those full gains with the artists who helped create
this
opportunity for them," said Huppe. "The net result of this proposal is that
small
webcasters would be guaranteed no increase in royalty payments for 13 years,
from 1998-
2010."
Of particular concern to SoundExchange and the thousands of artists and
labels it
represents is the lack of compliance by most small webcasters, including
many that have
complained the loudest about the CRB decision. Indeed, in their letter
Representatives
Berman and Coble noted that, "In return for compelling sound recording
copyright
owners to make their works available, the qualifying services agree to meet
the terms and
conditions of the compulsory license, which, inter alia, requires the
periodic filing of
statements of account and the timely payment of statutory royalties to the
copyright
owners whose works they have elected to perform."
In order for the process to work, small webcasters need to register with the
copyright
office, comply with all reporting requirements to SoundExchange and not
avoid paying
royalties that are lawfully owed. "The artists and labels are acting in good
faith today,
giving small webcasters a break. In return they expect the integrity of
their music and
their copyrights to be respected. That includes proper tracking and
reporting of how their
music is used, and that they are properly compensated," said Simson.
Background
On May 1, 2007 the Copyright Royalty Board issued a fair and reasonable
decision that
sets compensation rates to be paid artists and record labels for the public
performance of
their works by Internet radio broadcasters from 2006-2010. The three-judge
panel heard
testimony from dozens of witnesses and conducted a comprehensive review of
tens of
thousands of pages of evidence submitted by all interested parties over an
18-month
period. The decision is a reflection of the need for artists to be fairly
compensated for the
use of their work by webcasters who benefit - financially or otherwise -
from their
talents. As the music industry evolves from CD-only sales to multiple
distribution
platforms it is critical that creators of music share in revenues from all
platforms.
SoundExchange is a non-profit organization representing more than 20,000
artists, 2,500
independent record labels and the four major record companies for the
collection and
distribution of digital performance royalties for recording artists and
sound recording
copyright owners (usually a record label) when their sound recordings are
performed on
Internet radio, satellite radio and digital cable. For additional
information please visit
www.soundexchange.com
###

Bob Olhsson Audio Mastery, Nashville TN
Mastering, Audio for Picture, Mix Evaluation and Quality Control
Over 40 years making people sound better than they ever imagined!
615.385.8051 http://www.hyperback.com