Word has officially come that the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet will hold its hearing on Internet royalties on Wednesday (as we covered here). The hearing begins at 11:30am ET in the Rayburn Building. The witness list hasn't yet been published (we assume it will be, here).
Billboard.biz reports the Internet Radio Fairness Act (covered in RAIN here) will be re-introduced in Congress next year. It was introduced to this Congress by Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Jared Polis (D-CO) in the House and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) in the Senate. The news source also finds it likely the competing bill, Rep. Jerrold Nadler's (D-NY) Interim FIRST Act (more in RAIN here) will be introduced.
The IRFA will attempt to bring the Internet radio royalty process in line with those for other forms of digital radio (satellite, cable) by requiring the use of the 801(b) standard (more here). Internet radio rates are uniquely determined by trying to replicate a market rate via a standard known as "willing buyer willing seller."
Nadler's Interim FIRST Act would apply "willing buyer willing seller" to satellite and cable radio royalty settings. Additionally, it would require broadcasters to pay a royalty for streaming their online content that would, in effect, "make up for broadcasters not paying a fee when they play artists' songs over the air."
Billboard.biz's coverage is here.
We're happy to announce our second-annual RAIN Summit Europe industry event, May 23 in gorgeous Brussels, Belgium. We'll gather with Internet radio leaders from across Europe and around the world at the Hotel Bloom for a full day of informative panels, presentations and networking.
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