The Associated Press is reporting that a wide array of broadcasters and online companies, including NPR (National Public Radio) and Clear Channel Communications, have challenged a ruling from a panel of copyright judges. The ruling, which applies only to digital transmission of music, increased per-play fees and imposed a flat $500 yearly charge per ‘channel’ of music being broadcast or webcast. The businesses argue that the new fees would have a severe, negative impact on webradio, effectively shutting them down.
The new rule also eliminated a provision that allowed small commercial webcasters to pay a flat 12% of annual revenues to lieu of estimating the total number of plays.
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–PMM
