Perfomance Rights Act & Webcasting Update

As posted a few days ago, both the House and Senate saw the introduction of the Performance Rights Act, again after failing to come to a vote in the 110th Congress.   The bill would require FCC licensed non-commercial stations to pay an annual fee of $1000 and subject them to new recordkeeping regulations, likely similar to  those imposed on webcasters as well as content restrictions.  The NAB has countered with The Local Radio Freedom Act.

CBI is opposed to Performance Rights Act due to the financial strain it will place on already tapped student stations, the burdens it will impose and the costs associated with those burdens and the impact it will have one programming.  It will take a sustained effort to keep these new fees, requirements and restrictions from becoming law.

Likewise, student stations, FCC licensed or not, that are webcasting, are facing these same issues with an annual minimum $500 per year, recordkeeping requirements (see recent developments on a proposal to increase requirements) and content restrictions.

Webcasters had a chance to negotiate a settlement for the rates and terms for webcasting for the 2006-2010 license period and the upcoming 2011-2015 license period.   This opportunity came about due to the Webcaster Settlement Act (WSA) which became law due to widespread displeasure with the outcome of the 2006-2010 rate setting process.  The deadline for reaching a negotiated settlement with SoundExchange was February 15, 2009.  To our knowledge, only NPR and NAB reached a settlement.  At least some of the details of those settlements will be made public in the near future and we will report on them here.  CBI did participate in negotiations, but was unable reach a settlement with SoundExchange.

As indicated in our post on recent developments on the proposed changes to recordkeeping, CBI continues to work on this issue and encourages stations to participate.  In order for webcasting and broadcasting radio stations to remain viable, it is essential that all concerned pay attention to these issues and participate when action is requested.