shouting loudly

Congress has heard our cries to save internet radio.

Along with 50 bipartisan cosponsors, Reps Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) and Donald Manzullo (R-IL) have introduced HR 2060, the Internet Radio Equality Act. Instead of the outrageously high royalties set by the Copyright Royalty Board, commercial stations could choose to pay either .33 cents per hour per listener, or 7.5% of revenues.

This is definitely preferable to the rate of .19 cents per song per listener the CRB seeks to impose by 2010. That decision was all but explicitly designed to bury most internet radio stations.

Why would copyright holders shoot themselves in the foot this way? After all, three times the revenue from 1/20 the stations is far less revenue. Maybe they don’t think it will kill most internet radio stations. But maybe it’s in order to make internet radio just like FM: a centrally controlled source of safe, corporate music.

Call, email, or fax your Senators and Representative and urge them to support this legislation.

Link from Harp, via FreePress.