Lawmakers Introduce Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 12, 2009 - 11:31am.

Washington - Lawmakers on Tuesday introduced the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009, which would provide commercial webcasters with an additional opportunity to obtain financial relief from the Copyright Royalty Board's (CRB) 2007 Internet radio royalty decision. Webcasters are seeking to implement royalty rates for Internet music broadcasting that are similar to the rates set for cable and satellite radio broadcasters.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) introduced the bill, joined by co-sponsors including Reps. Inslee, Lofgren and Boucher in the House, and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) in the Senate.

"We are hopeful that the House Judiciary Committee will address this important radio parity issue when it considers the Performance Rights Act this week, and that a revised standard will in the future be the basis of more reasonable CRB royalty decisions so that future Webcaster Settlement Acts will not be necessary," said Jonathan Potter, executive director of the Digital Media Association (DiMA), which represents large webcasters like Pandora, AOL and Yahoo.

The House Judiciary Committee is expected to examine the Webcaster Settlement Act tomorrow at a hearing that will also consider the Performance Rights Act, a bill that would compel radio stations to pay performers on songs royalties in the same way that songwriters are currently compensated for airplay.

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