A US trade association for broadcasters has filed a lawsuit against
the US Copyright Office in a bid to reverse a December ruling that
would make radio stations pay additional royalties if they also
play broadcasts over the internet.
The case has been filed in Pennsylvania by the National
Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and others.
While broadcasters already pay royalties to artists for songs
they play, they have always been exempt from paying record
companies for radio broadcasts. The December ruling means they have
no such exemption for internet broadcasts. Internet-only
broadcasters already must pay royalties to record companies.
In the lawsuit, the NAB claims:
“Broadcasters desiring to stream
over-the-air programming would be forced either to engage in a
multiplicity of individual negotiations with the copyright owners
of every sound recording they stream (with the right of
any such copyright owner to withhold license authority)
or, if, but only if, they qualify, to secure a compulsory license
covering such streaming.”
The NAB adds that the onerous conditions of qualifying for such
a compulsory licence make this a “far from certain” option and the
overall effect of the ruling is likely to stifle on-line
broadcasting.
