After many months of negotiating, digital royalty collector SoundExchange and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting have come to an agreement on Internet royalties for non-commercial educational public radio. The arrangement, which stems from a controversial May 2007 ruling of the Copyright Royalty Board, covers a period from Jan. 1, 2005 through Dec. 31, 2010. Under the deal, SoundExchange will receive a single payment of $1.85 million plus consolidated usage and playlist reporting from CPB on behalf of the entire public radio system.

The settlement will cover about 450 public radio webcasters including CPB supported stations, National Public Radio, NPR members, National Federation of Community Broadcasters members, American Public Media, the Public Radio Exchange, and Public Radio International. NPR has also agreed to withdraw its appeal of the CRB royalty rate decision. "This important agreement will ensure that the artists heard on public radio station Web sites will receive compensation and will enable public radio webcasters to continue to meet their public service, non-profit missions," CPB President Pat Harrison said in a statement.

SoundExchange still has plenty of work to do, executive director John Simson told Tech Daily Dose. The group continues to negotiate with the Digital Media Association, which represents major digital content services, but "every time we seem to get really close, some new issue crops up," he said. Simson's staff is also in talks with the National Association of Broadcasters to reach an agreement on fees for programming that is simulcast online. Additionally, SoundExchange is hammering out a royalty scheme for a group of small commercial webcasters and a separate agreement with noncommercial entities that are not part of NPR or CPB, Simson said.