Washington - A group of large and small webcasters, including NPR and those represented by the Digital Media Association (DiMA), on Wednesday asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to suspend the date on which new, higher webcasting royalty rates are due to take effect, until the court hears the webcasters' appeal of those rates.

The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) last month issued a ruling on new royalty rates webcasters must pay to stream music online, which many webcasters said were set so high they will be forced out of business.

Since then, DiMA and NPR have appealed the CRB's ruling, while SoundExchange, the record industry entity set up to collect and distribute digital royalties, extended a lower royalty rate offer to smaller webcasters.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers also introduced the Internet Radio Equality Act, which would effectively block the CRB's new rates, which are set to take effect on July 15.

"We are hopeful that ultimately the Court will rule in our favor and overturn the CRB's decision, but unless a stay is granted many webcasters will shut down July 15 when the new royalty rates go into effect," said DiMA executive director Jonathan Potter.

"The ill-conceived CRB decision and its impending deadline are causing irreparable harm to stations across the system by diminishing their service to the public who value the diversity of music that public radio has historically, uniquely offered, and the music community that counts on us to help them reach these listeners," said Andi Sporkin, NPR's vice president of communications.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2sluwh

http://www.loc.gov/crb/fedreg/2007/72fr24084.pdf (CRB decision)