p2pnet.net News:- Canadian college radio is under threat with stations saying they could be forced to pull online streaming, thanks to SOCAN, the wealthy Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada.

SOCAN’s revenue last year totaled $C204.2 million (about $US180,311,900) from domestic performances and international sources, says Reuters/Billboard.

Now SOCAN wants Tariff 22 introduced. Under it, “noncommercial radio stations would be required to pay a total of 7.5 percent of their gross annual revenue, or $200 Canadian ($177) per month, whichever is greater, for a license to broadcast online,” says the story.

“A number of our stations are concerned about the fee,” says Melissa Kaestner, national co-coordinator of the NCRA (National Campus and Community Radio Association). “They are indicating that if it goes through as proposed they will shut down their feeds.”

But, says SOCAN general counsel Paul Spurgeon, “If you are adopting a new business operation that uses copyright, then you have to pay for it. College radio traditionally does not want to pay or wants to pay as little as possible for these rights.”

“The online radio sector – growing more influential as former students and listeners from outside the local area tune in via the Internet – is credited with boosting the careers of such key Canadian acts as Death From Above 1979, the Sadies and Broken Social Scene,” says Reuters.

A public Copyright Board of Canada hearing is slated for April 17 next year to set the rate and terms of the tariff, says The Globe and Mail.

The NCRA, “will ask at the hearing that the tariff be lowered or repealed, as many of the stations lack the money to pay for the fees and do not charge for on-line streaming of programming,” says the story.

Also See:
Reuters/Billboard – Tariff a Catch “22″ for Canadian college stations, November 3, 2006
The Globe and Mail – Proposed on-line fees too steep, college stations say, November 6, 2006

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 6th, 2006 at 9:25 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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