From CNet News.com: "A federal court has ruled that broadcast
radio stations must pay new royalties when
they stream their music programming online, upholding an earlier
decision by federal copyright regulators.
"The decision, which puts radio stations on the same
legal footing as Webcasters that limit their programming only
to the Internet, could keep much of the radio programming that
people have listened to online on hold...
"Broadcasters said Thursday they would look into other
options after the ruling, raising the likelihood of an appeal...
"At stake are not only fees for future broadcasts,
but back payments stretching back to late 1998. As
part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (in .pdf format
here)
of that year, Webcasters were granted the rights to use music
without direct permission under a so-called statutory license.
No fees were immediately set, but under the terms of the law,
Webcasters would have to pay retroactive royalties once the payment
terms were decided."
Read the entire article
here.
For
RAIN coverage of the U.S. Copyright Office's similar
decision last December that broadcasters are liable for webcasting
fees, click
here. And readers may be interested in the two excellent
essays on the DMCA and webcasting fees featured in
RAIN
at that time by attorneys Barry Skidelsky (
here)
and David Oxenford (
here).
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BY RALPH SLEDGE
If you aren't already familiar with the station and its
site, loading up the KFOG
home page might leave you a little confused. It doesn't really
look like how you'd expect the website of a popular commercial
station to be. In fact, it may even strike you as "small-market."
But then, you'll start to notice the Flash graphics.
You'll start to notice the roster of in-studio guests the station
has had in the recent past. You'll start to see the amount of
features on the site, and you'll realize that there really are
a few interesting things under the covers here.
The streaming is handled by Radiowave (you can see a
little "powered by Radiowave" graphic towards the
bottom of the player area), but their visibility is otherwise
fairly limited. The player itself isn't overly fancy -- it sits
in a frame by itself, has a large picture of the currently played
CD, and it has a little scroller of information towards the
bottom. Clicking on the CD takes you to a page where you can
buy it. It's functional, it works, and it's simple.
Still, the lack of sleekness doesn't necessarily mean
a lack of usability. As mentioned, the player section is big,
easy to read, easy to use, and always available while on the
page. The "personal homepage" quality of sections
such as "The Photo
Album" are shaken up when you realize that the photos are
of Dave Matthews, strumming away.
After spending a bit of time on the site, then, you come
to realize that sometimes the true test of the site's worthiness
might not be it's Madison Avenue appeal, but rather how well
it plays to its intended audience. I get the feeling that KFOG.com
probably goes over pretty well to the station's casual listeners
as well as to the more dedicated "Fogheads."
The reason I say this is because there's plenty of information
on the site, and plenty of reasons for fans to be interested.
In fact, you may say it indeed feels more like a dedicated fan's
site, though in this case the thing being idolized is the radio
station itself.
As mentioned earlier, there is a "photo album"
full of pictures from various interesting KFOG events, from
private Dave Matthews concerts to snapshots from the last "World
Class Adventure" promotion (below are website photos from
an in-studio appearance by artist Leona Naess). There's a page
dedicated to what's going on during the morning show (which
seems to be a pretty interesting affair -- just this week they've
had guests ranging from Francis Ford Coppola to Mick Fleetwood
to Alice Randall, author of the controversial novel The Wind
Done Gone). There's a page of details about current KFOG
contests. All of this is in addition to sections with playlists,
programming information, and information about the airstaff.
This somewhat loose- knit feel doesn't necessarily extend
itself to the station's overall level of professionalism however.
KFOG is distinguished as being one of the few terrestrial stations
able to keep webcasting through AFTRA conflicts, due to the
way they program the station, and their ability to control the
online and terrestrial programming separately.
According to a May 1st Washington Post article (which
you can get to via a link on KFOG's home page): "KFOG is
a digital studio, and the music and commercials are programmed
down to the second. The entire day's schedule appears on a computer
screen, and each song or commercial has a digital 'marker' that
signals when it starts. When a commercial's marker comes up,
the recorded announcement cuts in, telling Web listeners why
they're not hearing an ad. KFOG implemented this fix easily
and never had to stop webcasts. Interestingly, some Web listeners
actually miss the commercials, says Dwight Walker, KFOG's general
manager."
What all of this means is, once you get past the initial
loose feeling of the KFOG page, you'll realize you're on a decent
website. The whole experience may leave you with somewhat mixed
emotions, but with a little fiddling and smoothing-out, the
KFOG page would have everything it needs.
Here's feedback to Bob Bellin's "RAIN Guest Essay"
(here)
in which he suggests the RIAA is trying make webcasting fees so
high that only copyright owners themselves can afford to stream...
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"Bob
has truly uncovered a conspiracy here..."
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I
think Bob has truly uncovered a conspiracy here. It makes total
sense that the record labels are positioning themselves to be the
sole online distributors and destinations for all music downloads
and streaming. Further, I'm not sure I have total
confidence in DIMA being my representative as a streamcaster in
these negotiations, as they also have the interests of the big boys
in mind (ala ClearChannel) and not the mom and pop streamcaster.
And the big question is as Bob states...What can we do about it?
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Val Starr
Internet Radio Inc. |
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"I'll
just move my operation offshore..."
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Right
on, Bob! The proposed fees would indeed put independent webcasters
out of business. But as a member of that endangered class, I'm not
as worried as you might expect.
I'm perfectly willing to pay reasonable fees for the use
of copyrighted material. But if the fees turn out to be anything
like what the RIAA is asking for, I'll just move my operation offshore.
It's easy enough to do -- and I wouldn't lose a bit of sleep over
the moral implications of such a move.
As far as I'm concerned, the RIAA is begging for just that
response.
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Bill Goldsmith
www.radioparadise.com, www.kpig.com and
www.smoothjazz.com |
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"The
major record labels want a complete monopoly..."
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As an amateur webcaster (I have a station on Live365: WizardRadio:
http://www.live365.com/stations/140509),
I am gravely concerned about the multi-pronged and well coordinated
attack by the RIAA and the major record companies on webcasters,
artists, songwriters and retailers. If you look at all the actions
currently underway, it is obvious that the major record labels want
nothing less than a complete monopoly over the music industry from
conception to delivery (in any form or format) of the musical product.
Today Live365 has 40,000 of the most original, diverse and
creative music compilations in the history of the world. Music is
available on Live365 that can't be found on any on-air broadcast
station and certainly none of the "big business" stations.
| |
Bob
Keller
Fkap Online Magazine |
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"All
other topics are simply red herrings..."
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The entire discussion between DiMA and the RIAA for the past
two years has been about who gets to make money off of broadcasting
these recordings. All other topics (i.e. interactivity) are simply
red herrings; they are negotiating tactics related to arriving at
a final royalty rate.
I think the real issue here is that if you even look at intermediate
rates between the RIAA and DiMA proposals, these still largely favor
the RIAA member companies. Moreover, these companies who would in
effect pay these monies to themselves by paying other companies
(i.e. PressPlay and MusicNet) owned by their own parent companies.
On top of that, all of these companies are now or soon plan to compete
directly with the webcasters with whom they are now negotiating.
It may not be fair, but IMO, game over.
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