WASHINGTON (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — The Copyright Royalty Board, or CRB, an arm of the Library of Congress which is charged with, among other things, determining rates for royalties paid to copyright holders was established as a result of the Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act of 2004. In March of this year, they created a stir when they announced new royalty rates for webcasting that some have asserted would increase these rates by as much as a factor of ten.
A coalition of webcasters, joined by NPR requested a second hearing, but the request was turned down. The new royalties were slated to go into effect on May 15, but that date has been pushed back 2 months until July 15.
The coalition, SaveNetRadio led a march on Washington on May 1st, meeting with members of congress to try to find a way to stave off their apparent impending doom and it appears to have been successful. Describing the reprieve as "Welcome" a spokesman for the coalition went on to say that they will "spend the next 45 days educating Members of Congress and their staffs about the incredible diversity of programming Internet radio offers us all. We will set the ticking clock back 45 days and continue the fight to free Internet radio from these devastating fee increases." – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
