Thanks to big efforts spearheaded by National Public Radio, the Library of Congress Copyright Royalty Board has agreed to reconsider its decision to increase royalties for music played on the Web. The
judges on Tuesday said they would accept arguments until April 2 from NPR, commercial radio broadcasters and college stations, all of which face astronomically higher Web royalty fees if the board's
decision isn't overturned or at least pared down significantly.
Some highlights from those arguments: NPR said higher royalties would force it to cease offering Web simulcasts
altogether. Webcaster SomaFM, which owns 11 Web music channels, said its '06 fees would multiply 27 times to $600,000, while next year's would exceed $1 million.
Of course, music
industry executives, reeling from the most recent CD sales plunge, believe the ruling is fair--the money needs to come from somewhere, right? Web broadcasters paid below-market rates for music between
1998 and 2006. On March 2, the royalty board decided that Web radio outlets should also pay for each song they play, as well as an additional $500 annual fee. Under the previous formula, Webcasters
paid a percentage of their revenue.
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