From wired.com
A new agreement will allow college radio stations to pay a more palatable price to webcast music, but still saddles them with limitations on what they can play and when.
Over the weekend, educational and other noncommercial broadcasters reached a settlement with the recording industry on royalty rates for streaming music over the Internet. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act requires that the artists and labels be paid when their songs are streamed.
Under terms of the agreement, stations will pay a flat rate of $250 for use of songs in 2003. In 2004, schools will pay $250 or $500, depending on the size of the school’s enrollment. Other noncommerical broadcasters will pay roughly the same amount. That’s a lower price than the per-song and per-listener royalty fees set by the Librarian of Congress last year in an effort to comply with the DMCA.
Many noncommercial webcasters said the per-song fees were too costly and would make it prohibitive for them to stay in operation. Although the new agreement does not give webcasters complete freedom in arranging playlists, for the most part, all parties were pleased with the deal.
