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CBI And SoundExchange Reach Settlement On Many Webcasting Issues
October 8, 2014 at 7:08 AM (PT)
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COLLEGE BROADCASTERS INC., which represents students involved in radio, television, webcasting and other related media ventures, has reached an agreement with SOUNDEXCHANGE, allowing royalty payments to remain at current levels for the vast majority of student radio stations.
Under a joint motion filed TODAY (10/8) by the organizations with the COPYRIGHT ROYALTY BOARD (CRB), royalty payments would be frozen for the next five years. It would also continue to allow student webcasters to continue to file proxy reports in lieu of detailed data due to the nature of their operations and the size of the online audiences. The settlement submitted today is not final. It must pass a “reasonableness test,” a process established by the CRB to determine if proposed settlements are fair to all parties which will be bound by the proposed rates and terms.
“We have asked the CRB to determine a specific timeline to finalize approval of the settlement, which would allow us to cease litigation in this matter as soon as possible,” said CBI Exec. Dir. WILL ROBEDEE. “The previous settlement we reached with SOUNDEXCHANGE took many months to be approved. With this agreement based on a settlement already endorsed by the CRB, I am hopeful that final approval will come soon.”
“We are thrilled with the settlement as it means that our station can continue to pay the same fee for the next five years and avoid a costly and burdensome reporting process,” added SETON HALL UNIVERSITY WSOU student PD STEVE VARSANYI. “This is a huge win not only for college radio, but also for bands that college stations play because an affordable settlement means stations can keep playing music, especially emerging artists.”
CBI Pres. GREG WESTON said, “We actually expect the number of student stations to be able to report via proxy to rise above the 96% mark because of the submitted settlement as the threshold for being able to report via proxy has risen from 55,000 total listening hours per month via the Internet to 80,000 total listening hours. While I think the change is a move in the right direction and a big win for student stations, we will keep striving to make it as easy as possible for students to reach an audience on the Internet through webcasting and mobile devices.”

