Internet radio in jeopardy
By NINA COOLIDGE
New royalty fees may soon change the way
50 million listeners enjoy online radio.
On March 2, the Copyright Royalty Board, a three-judge panel under the
Library of Congress, changed the way radio stations on the Internet pay
royalty fees to record labels.
The decision will be applied retroactively to raise rates from 2006 to
2010. Every time listeners hear a song online, broadcasters must pay a
rate somewhere between 0.08 cents and 0.19 cents by 2010. Public
stations would pay a fee of $500 per month for a set number of listening
hours. Beyond that monthly limit, public stations would have to pay the
regular commercial fees.
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Photo by KAYLEE HARTUNG |
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Many online broadcasters are worried that
the new fees will force them to shut down their online broadcasts.
Washington and Lee University’s WLUR is one small station that could be
affected. The campus station celebrated its 40th birthday this year.
Jeremy Franklin, WLUR general manager, said many alumni and fans access
the online broadcast that reaches about 120 listeners.
"We stream all of our music, sports, public affairs, and Radio IQ
programming online, 24 hours a day. Most of the time, what you hear on
91.5 FM is the same thing that you'll hear on our Web site," Franklin
said. "We run a few of our sports broadcasts only on the Internet, in
which case the FM and the Web stream have different programming."
Although Franklin is not yet sure how the fees will affect the online
stream, he did say that WLUR is committed to providing quality
programming.
"If the new music rights fees make it financially infeasible to run our
music programs on the web as well, we will address that issue once it
arises," Franklin said.
Currently, WLUR pays technical operating costs as well as the
Intercollegiate Broadcasting System to handle the rights fees for the
music it plays.
Franklin said the station gets funding from a variety of sources,
including funding through the University’s Office of Public Affairs and
Communications, as well as the Executive Committee and additional
underwriting.
In one of the first organized movements of opposition to the decision,
National Public Radio announced Monday that it would file an appeal of
the Board’s decision with the U.S. Court of Appeals in the Washington
D.C. Circuit.
"The Board’s decision to dramatically raise public radio stations’ rates
was based on inaccurate assumptions and lack of understanding of the
issues," Vice President for Communications Andi Sporkin said in a press
release issued by NPR. "The new rates inexplicably break with the
longstanding tradition of recognizing public radio's non-commercial,
non-profit role."
Sporkin said that the decision wrongly equated public and commercial
radio.
"Public radio is driven by a public service mission on behalf of
underserved and un-served audiences," Sporkin said.
Sporkin said that NPR hoped the Board would reconsider its decision.
If the decision is not overturned, broadcasters and their stations could
be forced to begin making payments in the next few months.
The New York Times sounds off on the issue
Produced by Washington and Lee journalism students.
Lead supervisor: Prof. Claudette Artwick
Reporting supervisors:
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd