Internet radio stations could go off-air

wess_80 · Post by **wess_80** » Mar Wed 21, 2007 7:16 am

Take that for what's it's worth... and I'm surprised no one mentionned this here...

We all love Disney and it's doesn't stop with music. We probably all visit different website to keep in touch with are favorite theme park. I was visiting wdwmagic.com this morning and I came across this message:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.p ... ost2140665

(Sorry, don't know if we can or can't post links but this is major news)

Now, in this forum, there is someone talking about the fact that internet radio stations could face major problems in the near future because the RIAA has decided to increase the rates for ALL internet radio stations... including subsonic radio I'm not sure.

Now, if there was only the message on the forum, we could all question the thruthness behind all this. But one of the links that is included in the message leads us to an ipetition, signed but more than 30000 people who want to keep internet radio stations alive.

What do you make of all of this???

broncoflyer8912 · Post by **broncoflyer8912** » Mar Wed 21, 2007 7:50 am

I find that hard to believe that the RIAA could do something like this, Subsonic Radio doesn't charge anything to listen to the music so why would Sub have to pay royalties??

Though I would be willing to pay a membership if it was necessary to keep SSR alive, because I think it would be worth the money.

QuickGold · Post by **QuickGold** » Mar Wed 21, 2007 9:45 am

This page offers more information on the issue: http://www.live365.com/choice/

Post by **subsonic** » Mar Wed 21, 2007 11:04 am

I know about this and have been doing what I always do, keep trucking a long and hope I'm not breaking any rules.

Post by **rdeacon** » Mar Wed 21, 2007 11:06 am

Since SSR is non-profit I think it would only have to pay $500 a year.

Nothing is definite right now, so until its all settled, let those requests roll!!

Rich

Post by **subsonic** » Mar Wed 21, 2007 11:07 am

It really sucks I have to pay anything at all. I hate money grubbing jerks.

Disneys America · Post by **Disneys America** » Mar Wed 21, 2007 12:22 pm

If it is $500 per channel, then, depending on how you define channel, it could be $2000 (3 request channels and one scheduled channel). Or, heaven forbid, they define a channel as a slot available for a listener, in which case there'd be 110 channels.

Post by **rdeacon** » Mar Wed 21, 2007 12:44 pm

Yes the "channel" description is fuzzy.

Royalties for internet radio are nothing new. They were enacted in 2002.

Web broadcasters want the Web radio royalty fees returned to their original structure which was established in 2002. At that time, the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel set fees at 0.07 cents per performance for AM or FM signals that simultaneously aired online, and 0.14 cents per performance for Internet-only broadcasts. Those fees were made retroactive to 1998.

Under the new guidelines, rates for commercial stations will be set retroactively for 2006 at 0.08 cents per performance, climbing to 0.19 cents by 2010. For public broadcasters the CRB set fees at a flat $500 a month, but only for a set level of listening hours per month. Part of the 2002 ruling allowed small stations to pay 10 to 12 percent of their revenue, rather than a per-song fee.

Once a public station surpasses its allocation of listening hours, it must pay commercial royalty fees

The new law now has small commercial Webcasters that previously paid royalties based on a percentage-of-revenue model, will instead be subjected to the burdensom "pay-per-play" model. Non-commercial Webcasters and simulcasters will face similarly exorbitant royalty rates. In addition, a $500 annual fee will be levied upon individual stations.

Since SSR is really small and most if its content is in a grey area, we might just fly under the radar.

Rich

Post by **js3901** » Mar Wed 21, 2007 7:39 pm

I doubt that stations like this will be shut down. I haven't read through all the various sources of info on this issue, but as stated in several places, this is stemming from the RIAA, right? Well, there are only a couple of tracks on this site which could really fall under RIAA jurisdiction, as quite a few of these tracks are live recordings that people have made themselves, not of source material. It;s akin to using a VHS tape and a VCR to tape a movie off HBO or a TV show from NBC (or similar). they (being movie companies, TV stations, and the like) dont go suing people because of this, so they can't shut us down for that.

I'm going to see if I can sort out what kind of effect this could REALLY have on us...

Edit 10:57 PM EST: ok, I watched the video that's listed on the wdwmagic.com thread, as well as viewed a couple of webpages that were posted by some of the users on that forum. I, personally, don't think this will have any effect on us at all. The video, as well as the articles posted, all refer to commercially available music that is released by the major record labels in the US. We have very little (if any) commercially available music on this site. much of it is on-ride audio, which has not been released on any album. Even some of the Master-quality tracks aren't released commercially. so, in that area, I believe we are safe.

Also, we do not collect any form of revenue for the services. SR is a non-for-profit service, and many of the articles refer to broadcasters paid royalties on a percentage of revenue basis, rather than on the per song per listener basis. as there is no revenue generated, we do not fall under this at all. so, again, I think we're safe.

Third, there is currently an appeal to these new rules, as a website posted in that wdwmagic thread indicates. Here is the article posted on a website dedicated to broadcast law. They break down everything about the new laws as well as previously enacted laws that have been on the books for a while. so, we may have a repreive coming, depending on how everything pans out.

wess_80 · Post by **wess_80** » Mar Thu 22, 2007 7:41 am

I thought the same when I saw the movie, it looks fake. But even if the movie is fake, there is some truth behind all this. The fact the the RIAA wants to increase their rates seems to be hard fact. And even if they're targeting commercial internet radio (1.fm for example), they will affect smaller radio like subsonic. If live365 is worried, we should be worried too.

We can only hope that our station won't be affected by this. We'll have to see and wait. I love the fact that this station is free but believe me when I say that I would stick around if this changes.