“Come and save me tonight,” pleaded Steven Tyler in an Aerosmith tune so sappy it could have been tapped for maple syrup, but the words could well be the rallying cry for webcasters across the country. Coalitions like SaveNetRadio.org have been petitioning Congress for relief after the Copyright Royalty Board denied an appeal to reconsider its decision earlier this year on Internet radio fees. Today, two senators rode to their rescue.
Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sam Brownback (R-KS) have just introduced the Internet Radio Equality Act of 2007. “July 15, when collection begins on the new royalty fees, literally will be the day the music died,” said the two senators in a joint announcement. If passed, the bill would overturn the decision of the Copyright Royalty Board and replace it with a rate mandated by Congress—7.5 percent of total revenues.
This is the rate currently paid by satellite broadcasters like XM and Sirius, but the CRB’s decision meant that small webcasters could actually owe more in fees than they earn in revenue, and some of the fees would be retroactive to 2006.
“Our bill is about standing up for folks ranging from a small webcaster in a basement in Corvallis to an innovative startup in Beaverton to a new band trying to be heard in Portland to a huge music fan in Coos Bay,” said Wyden, a statement which raises the obvious question: who named all these towns in Oregon, anyway?
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