More than 200 US internet-based radio stations have shut down in
the face of a webcasting royalty fee which takes effect later this
year, according to a report by USA Today. Many of them were
non-profit, including the radio stations of UCLA and New York
University.
A decision of a US copyright appeals board in June has obliged
radio stations and webcasters to pay royalties to recording
companies and artists for playing their music on the internet. The
fee is 0.007 cents per listener per song. This means that radio
stations will have to pay 70 cents for each song played to an
audience of 1,000 listeners.
Payments, the first of which are due on 20th October this year,
are retroactive to 1998, and apply to both commercial and
non-commercial stations. Traditional over-the-air radio stations
that do not also webcast are not subject to the fee.
USA Today also reports that a bill that aims to offer relief to
small radio stations is expected to be introduced this week and the
US royalty collection agency has said that it would be willing to
work out a compromise with small webcasters.
A group of radio stations has asked a US appeals court to review
the webcasting royalties decision.
