Copyright Office decision to let 7 Internet radio companies parti...
Copyright Office decision to let 7 Internet radio companies participate in royalty-setting proceeding for online radio services was “a nice victory for the Webcasters,” Digital Media Assn. (DiMA) Exec. Dir. Jonathan Potter said. Companies filed suit in early June…
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after RIAA attempted to have them disqualified from Copyright Office Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel (CARP). RIAA had claimed Webcasters provided “interactive services” that allowed consumers to influence what was played on Internet, so they weren’t entitled to compulsory license. Webcasters said it was unclear whether their services were interactive and issue must be decided in court. In its July 16 ruling, the Copyright Office agreed that CARP didn’t have final authority to determine who was correct, and matter would have to be decided by federal court. However, office said RIAA’s assessment of requirements for participating in CARP was wrong: “In order to be eligible to request rates and terms and to present evidence in support of the request, the party seeking to participate must have a ’specific interest’ in the rates and terms to be adopted.” All 7 Webcasters met that requirement, office said.