Tuesday, October 8, 2002

Agreement on Webcast Fees Won't Help College Radio Stations By DAN CARNEVALE Washington Officials for college radio stations that play music online say they will not benefit from a bill approved by the House of Representatives on Monday that reduced copyright royalties that small Webcasters must pay. The legislation would codify a settlement reached Monday among Webcasters, musical artists, and the recording industry to revise a controversial set of royalty rates established earlier this year. But most college radio stations don't fit the legal term for "small business" because they are part of a college or university, says Joel Willer, general manager of the University of Louisiana at Monroe radio station, KXUL. He says college stations were not allowed to participate in negotiations to set the new rates. So college stations will probably have to pay the higher royalty fees that were created as a result of a provision in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Under those rates, which were set in June, the average college station offering Webcasts -- a licensed noncommercial college station that simultaneously plays its over-the-air broadcasts online -- would pay two-hundredths of a cent per listener per song for every song it plays. Radio stations that play music online would have to pay a minimum of $500 a year if their audience is small. If more people connected to the Webcast, the royalty fees could run to thousands of dollars. Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., a Wisconsin Republican who is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, last week proposed a bill, HR 5469, that originally gave a six-month postponement to the October 20 deadline for paying the royalty fees. This prompted Webcasters and officials from the recording industry to wrap up negotiations that had been stalled for months. When a settlement was reached, Mr. Sensenbrenner amended his bill to get rid of the six-month delay and codify the settlement. "HR 5469 placed a burr under the saddle of both the copyright holders and the small Webcasters to conclude negotiations on these matters that began last summer," Mr. Sensenbrenner said during debate of the bill. "They have now arrived at a deal that sets new rates and payment terms that will obviate the need for further legal or administrative intervention." But Mr. Willer, who also is a lobbyist for a college-radio organization called Save Our Streams, said that colleges will still be hurt by the rate requirements. He said groups will continue to lobby Congress and seek legal avenues to stop the rates from taking effect. "My fear is that now many people in Washington will be of the opinion that this situation has been taken care of when in fact it has not been taken care of," Mr. Willer said. "We're still going to see some Webcasters forced out of business because of this." Background articles from The Chronicle: Lawmaker Yanks Webcasting Bill to Permit Negotiations on Royalties (10/3/2002) Radio Silence: Fees Force College Stations to Stop Webcasting (8/16/2002) Rates for Online Broadcasting Worry College Radio Stations (7/12/2002) Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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