FC: Congresscritters urge lower webcasting music rates

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Here's the letter from webcasters (my version of Word couldn't open it, but 
it is a bit-for-bit copy of what I received):
http://www.politechbot.com/docs/webcaster.music.letter.042202.doc

Here's the letter from members of Congress (WARNING: 1.8 MB):
http://www.politechbot.com/docs/congress.music.letter.042202.pdf.gz

Background from Politech archives:
http://www.politechbot.com/cgi-bin/politech.cgi?name=carp

-Declan

---

   CALIFORNIA WEBCASTERS ASK CONGRESS     TO SAVE INTERNET RADIO
   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

   Los Angeles - Twenty Members of Congress today including four from
   California in response to an arbitration panels recommendation of
   sound recording royalties for webcasters, urged the U.S. Library of
   Congress and the Copyright Office to ensure that the royalties do not
   devastate the webcast industry.  Executives from six California-based
   Internet radio companies asked the California Congressional delegation
   to support a fair royalty regime for Internet radio, as the current
   rate being proposed, webcasters say, would put them out of business.


   Representatives Lofgren, Honda, Lantos and Eshoo have taken a stand
   for webcasters today, said Val Starr of Choice Radio
   (www.choiceradio.com) a multi-channel webcaster located in San Bruno,
   California, And more importantly they are supporting music-loving
   consumers in California who want to access diverse music and culture
   on the Internet.


   The California webcasting community's opposition against the
   arbitrators proposal has widespread support. Thousands of webcasters
   and consumers have recently appealed to the Congress and the Register
   of Copyrights, who is authorized to review (and possibly reject) the
   proposed royalty rate.


   The proposed fees would definitely put us out of business," said Bill
   Goldsmith, the owner of popular Paradise, California based adult rock
   station RadioParadise.com (www.radioparadise.com). "If that happens,
   everyone loses: our listeners, the artists we play, and the record
   labels themselves.  We'd see two years of hard work and sacrifice go
   right down the drain.


   Webcasters want to pay royalties to recording artists, added David
   Landis, of Ultimate-80s, an all 1980s music format webcaster based in
   Los Angeles, CA (www.ultimate80s.com) But if super-high rates cause us
   to shut down, there will be no music, no royalties paid, and no money
   going to California recording artists.


   Goldsmith cautions against believing the press releases from the
   record industry which try to portray the fees as being affordable. "If
   you do the math, you'll see that not one webcaster - large or small -
   can cover these fees with their present levels of income."


   Both the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News have issued
   stinging editorials rejecting the proposal and urging the Register of
   Copyrights to adopt a more reasonable approach.


   Several members of Congress from California are on the House and
   Senate Judiciary Committees in Washington, said Choice Radios Starr.
   Hopefully, Senator Dianne Feinstein and Representative Howard Berman,
   who are senior members of those Committees, will feel our local
   industrys pain and recognize that the demise of small webcasters is
   bad for the Internet, bad for consumers and bad for recording
   artists.


   California is the birthplace of new media and a haven for cultural
   diversity, said Zack Zalon of Los Angeles, CAs Radio Free Virgin
   (www.radiofreevirgin.com), a webcasting station offering over 40
   channels of various genres of music.  California lawmakers must
   support the independence, diversity and creativity that online radio
   represents. Furthermore, in the absence of legitimate entertainment
   options such as online radio, pirate services will flourish and deny
   artists the dues that were all fighting for.


   Contact:       David Landis at Ultimate-80s (323)782-8008

                  Bill Goldsmith at Radio Paradise
   (530)872-4993,(530)514-3173

               Zack Zalon of Radio Free Virgin (323) 904-6155

               Val Starr at Choice Radio (650) 872-2364

               Rusty Hodge at Soma FM (415) 826-9500

                     John Jeffrey at Live 365 (650)345-7400, ext. 107
   




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