*A correction was made to the original version of this story.

Washington - The U.S. Copyright Royalty Board announced on Tuesday that it will consider requests from groups including the Digital Media Association, National Public Radio, Clear Channel Communications and SoundExchange for a rehearing of its recently announced ruling on digital music webcasting royalty rates.

Many webcasters have criticized the new rates as prohibitively high for them to continue to be able to stream music to listeners.

SoundExchange, an entity created by the major labels to collect digital music royalties that lobbied for the current rate structure, called the ruling "fair and reasonable."

"Nobody got everything they asked for," SoundExchange general counsel Michael Huppe told Bloomberg.

"The judges did an excellent job objectively evaluating the evidence and the witnesses and issued a very fair opinion."

Chief Copyright Royalty Judge James Scott Sledge asked that parties who filed requests for a rehearing submit their arguments by April 2.

*Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly stated that the Copyright Royalty Board had granted a rehearing of its decision. The judges have agreed to consider a rehearing, and have asked for statements from groups requesting a rehearing to aid in its decision-making process.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2kf8up (Bloomberg News)

http://www.loc.gov/crb/proceedings/2005-1/rates-terms2005-1.pdf

http://www.digmedia.org

http://www.npr.org

http://www.clearchannel.com

http://www.soundexchange.com