Hearsay Culture » royalties

Today is Internet Radio’s “Day of Silence”

dave — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:33:11 +0000

I have previously written about the problems associated with the Copyright Royalty Board’s new royalty rates for webcasts. To bring attention to this issue, today is Internet radio’s “Day of Silence.” KZSU-FM, where you can normally hear Hearsay Culture live, is participating.

If you listen to any Internet radio shows, podcasts or other programming that contain copyrighted sound recordings, you may be impacted by these proposed changes in royalty rates. If the predictions of people like Bill Goldsmith, the operator of the outstanding Internet radio station Radio Paradise who wrote a superb analysis of the impact of these rates on small, non-commercial Internet radio stations, and the public generally, are accurate (and I think they are), today represents that kind of programming that you can expect from many entities that are currently on the air.

As I previously mentioned, there is some time to impact what is to come: look here for more information if you’re interested.

Show #34 — Prof. Terry Fisher — posted

dave — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 16:40:41 +0000

I am pleased to post Show #34, my interview with Prof. Terry Fisher of Harvard Law School, discussing his book “Promises to Keep.” Terry’s book is a very well-balanced analysis of the entertainment industry’s business model and use of intellectual property rights. As Terry says, he takes the industry’s claim to property rights seriously, and through that prism evaluates where the industry is and is headed. As a topic that is very relevant to all who consume entertainment, whether on KZSU-FM, iTunes or the theater, I enjoyed discussing the state of the industry, as well as its intellectual property claims and Terry’s proposed solution, with one of the experts in the field. I hope you enjoy listening in!

This was an easier week for choosing music; hence the absent music from this show:

(1) Free Man in Paris/Joni Mitchell/Court and Spark
(2) Friend Of The Devil/Jerry Garcia/Lonesome Prison Blues
(3) Only The Song Survives/John Hiatt/Crossing Muddy Waters
(4) Hold On, Hold On/Neko Case/Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

A Related Topic: Pending Disaster and Webcast Royalty Rates

dave — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 21:08:02 +0000

On occasion, I’ll blog here on topics directly related to this radio show, like . . . It’s old news by blog standards, as it happened last week, but the Copyright Royalty Board has announced the new royalty rates for webcasts. No surprise, they are higher than what your typical (if there is such a thing) small, non-commercial Internet radio station can afford, as cogently analyzed by the Radio and Internet Newsletter. And I’m not defining “afford” as in “turning a reasonable profit”; no, the analysis suggests that the royalty rate would consume total revenues of a “typical Internet radio station.” Bill Goldsmith, the operator of the outstanding Internet radio station Radio Paradise, wrote a superb analysis of the impact of these rates on small, non-commercial Internet radio stations, and the public generally.

Of course, what is a typical Internet radio station? That is the question that should be answered in more reasonable negotiated rates that factor in the specific needs of different categories of stations (i.e., commercial/non-commercial, profit/non-profit). To potentially crush the most successful small Internet radio stations under these new proposed rates (explained here), and deter others from entering the market for fear that they could not ever meet the royalty requirements, should be an outcome that no one, not even the content industry, wants. But similar to Google Book Search, a project that is under attack by the very creators who benefit from the service but claim that they are being robbed and/or cheated, we now have a burgeoning technology and community being threatened by extremely short-sighted thinking. Sound familiar?

Let’s start with a basic discussion topic for the royalty-seekers: maybe if more stations are allowed to grow, develop and flourish, then one day they might be able to afford higher rates. Or should rates be demanded now that will kill the industry? Please discuss among yourselves, and let the rest of us know the outcome.

There is some time to impact what is to come: look here for more information if you’re interested. [Note: this entry is cross-posted on the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School website here].