Online music royalties deal
p2pnet news view Music | RIAA News:- For the first time, royalty rates have been drawn up for distributing certain kinds of music online.
The Recording Industry Association of America, owned by Vivendi Universal (France), Sony BMG (Japan and Germany), EMI (Britain), and Warner Music (US with a Canadian at the helm) and the Digital Media Association (DiMA) say they’ve signed a deal with musicians and songwriters represented by the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) and Songwriters Guild of America (SGA).Draft regulations submitted to the Copyright Royalty Judges propose mechanical royalty rates for interactive streaming and limited downloads, including for subscription and ad-supported services.
Under the proposals, the likes of Napster will have to start paying royalties of around 10.5% of revenue, “less any amounts owed for performance royalties,” says the DiMA.
Can we expect to soon see a sudden and massive upsurge in very long demos?
“In certain instances, royalty-free promotional streaming is allowed,” says the organisation, adding:
“Outside the scope of the draft regulations, the parties confirmed that non-interactive, audio-only streaming services do not require reproduction or distribution licenses from copyright owners.
“The agreement does not address royalty rates for physical product or permanent music downloads. The Copyright Royalty Judges are expected to issue a ruling on those rates on or before October 2.”
DiMA summary:
- The agreement proposes mechanical royalty rates that cover both limited downloads and interactive streaming, including when offered by subscription and ad-supported services.
- The percentage rate structure in the agreement provides much-needed flexibility for new business models.
- The agreement permits the use without payment of certain kinds of promotional streams, in the interest of encouraging paid uses of musical compositions.
- The agreement confirms that the mechanical licenses issued under its provisions will include all reproduction and distribution rights necessary to provide the licensed limited downloads or interactive streams.
- Outside the scope of the draft regulations, the parties confirmed that non-interactive, audio-only streaming services do not require reproduction or distribution licenses from copyright owners.
“Download services like Amazon MP3 and iTunes already pay such fees,”says CNET News, adding:
“And online radio sites saw a major royalty hike last year. Pandora, one such site, may be on the brink of going out of business due to that rate increase, according to its founder, Tim Westergren.”
CNET News – Music groups reach accord on royalties, September 23, 2008
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September 24th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Read this if you like a good laugh. Its fucking priceless and ironic. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/24/cleveland_police_prs_oink/
September 25th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Welcome to the club, coppers. Now… is this also considered organized crime?
September 25th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
What is so interesting about this agreement is that it wasn’t RIAA vs. music download websites- those sites already have licensing deals in place with the RIAA. It was a deal made with the composers. The RIAA was actually on the same side of the negotiating table as the internet music services in this case.
This agreement does not cover royalties on the sound recording- for on-demand and download services the sound recording copyright must be privately negotiated and is not covered by Section 114. This deal is about Section 115 rotalyties, which define how much the songwriters get paid when a copy of a song is made (referred to in copyright law as a “digital phonorecord delivery”).