The appeals of last year's Copyright Royalty Board decision on the royalties paid for the use of sound recordings by Internet radio stations continue on, and one recent filing raises interesting questions of whether or not the CRB was properly appointed. Last week, the Department of Justice, which represents the CRB in defending its decision in the Court of Appeals, filed its brief in opposition to the briefs of the webcasters, which we summarized here. The DOJ brief essentially argued that the webcasters' briefs were insufficient to satisfy the requirement for a successful appeal - that the CRB decision was arbitrary and capricious or otherwise contrary to law.

Washington - The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) this week announced its support for the Internet Radio Equality Act, a bipartisan House bill that would vacate the recent music webcasting royalty rate hike.

Washington - Web radio broadcasters have been given an unexpected reprieve from new royalty rates many said will put them out of business, when the organization set up by record labels to collect digital royalties said in front of Congress on Thursday that it won't enforce the new rates when they take effect on Sunday.

Washington - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Wednesday denied webcasters' motions to delay the implementation of new royalty rates for streaming music while their appeal of the rates is heard.

Washington - SaveNetRadio, a coalition with ties to the Digital Media Association, a trade group of large webcasters, said that 31 artists traveled to Washington today to meet with more than 50 lawmakers to discuss the effect new royalty rates will have on Internet radio services. The visit to Capitol Hill followed an open-air concert on the lawn of the U.S. Senate last night. SaveNetRadio is seeking support for the bipartisan Internet Radio Equality Act, which would vacate the Copyright Royalty Board's recent decision to hike the rates webcasters must pay to stream music online.

Washington - A group of more than 70 webcasters, artists and labels met with nearly 100 members of Congress yesterday to seek support for the Internet Radio Equality Act, a recently introduced bill that would largely unburden webcasters from new royalty rates that many say will drive them out of business.

Washington - A bipartisan pair of lawmakers on Thursday introduced the Internet Radio Equality Act, a bill intended to nullify the effects of new, higher royalty rates recently set by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) that many music webcasters say will put them out of business.