Webcasting: SoundExchange confirms minimum fee offer

From: http://machinist.salon.com/

Late last week SoundExchange, the recording-industry group that collects royalties from Internet radio stations, agreed to limit one key part of the new fees that threatened to shut down a great many webcasters.

But now it seems that SoundExchange's benevolence came at a price: in exchange for reducing fees, the recording industry wants webcasters to prevent listeners from copying the music they get through Internet radio - despite the fact that such copying may be perfectly legal.

SoundExchange had previously asked radio stations for $500 for each channel of music that they send out to listeners, a fee that would have added up to more than a billion dollars for the industry.

On Friday, the royalty group agreed to cap the amount at $50,000 per webcaster. The fee cap all but saved Internet
radio from certain death.

Press Release: SoundExchange Confirms Minimum Fee Offer
http://www.soundexchange.com/documents/07_13_07
%20SoundExchange%20Confirms%20Minimum%20Fee.pdf