Senate Passes Webcaster Bill
Following on swift action in the House, the Senate on Wednesday passed legislation by unanimous consent that would allow months of royalty negotiations between the music and Internet industries continue while delaying full implementation of a controversial rate-setting for webcasters imposed by the Copyright Royalty Board. The legislation was sponsored by Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sam Brownback, R-Kan., would replace a Feb. 15, 2009 deadline that was part of legislation that passed the 110th Congress, with a 30-day window from the date of enactment for a deal to be reached between digital royalty collector SoundExchange, which is negotiating on behalf of copyright owners and performers, and Internet services represented by the Digital Media Association and others.
A companion bill sponsored by Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., passed the House earlier this month with support from Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Energy and Commerce Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., and California Democrats Zoe Lofgren and Anna Eshoo. DiMA Executive Director Jonathan Potter lauded the action and used it as a platform to press his members' agenda pertaining to a bill that would end a longstanding royalty exemption afforded to AM and FM radio. "Hopefully, as Congress continues to focus more broadly on sound recording performance rights legislation, more comprehensive legislation will soon level the regulatory playing field for all forms of digital radio."
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