A new coalition of webcasters, broadcasters, musicians, independent record labels, and music retailers — the SaveNetRadio Coalition — will announce a national campaign to generate public support for Congress to overturn the CRB royalty rate decision this morning via a press teleconference. This years’s 2007 RAIN Las Vegas Summit, is an annual meeting of Internet radio operators and is run concurrently with the terrestrial broadcaster convention NAB 2007.

Internet radio broadcasters battle royalty rate ruling
By Seth Sutel, Associated Press
San Jose Mercury News

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In the weeks since the Copyright Royalty Board’s decision, various parties affected by the new framework have filed objections and asked for a rehearing on certain issues.

Besides a group of small webcasters, a coalition of Web companies including Yahoo Inc. also objected, as did public and other radio stations that would be covered by the new rates.

In the meantime, time pressure is building on the webcasters. Under the ruling, monthly payments under the new rates start coming due May 15, something that Kurt Hanson, founder of the Internet radio company AccuRadio, said would “would wipe out almost everybody” among the small webcasters.

Webcasters are trying to hold off the implementation of the new rates while the appeals process goes ahead. David Oxenford, a lawyer representing a number of parties affected, said he expects the board to act within the next month or so.

On Monday, a group of webcasters is launching a campaign against the new rates in hopes of building public awareness about the issue and potentially getting it considered in Congress.

The announcement will be made at a conference of Internet Radio companies in Las Vegas, which is running concurrently with an annual conference of the National Association of Broadcasters, a national television and radio industry group.

With many members of the NAB also affected by the royalty ruling, NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton said it was sure to be a topic at the conference, which runs through Thursday. Wharton called the royalty decision “disappointing” and said it has “the potential to cripple a fledgling new technology.”

The royalties in question only apply to digital broadcasts of music, such as over the Internet. If a traditional radio station streams music from its Web site, it must pay the online rate in addition to a royalty paid to music composers.

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Public radio stations had been able to stream music under lower rates than commercial stations, something that could end under the new ruling.

Ken Stern, chief executive of National Public Radio, said that would reverse decades of precedent in treating public radio differently from commercial radio. He said the new rates would leave public radio stations “with a draconian choice of cutting services or raising money that we don’t have.”

Full story here.