US Federal Copyright Board Action

Subject: US Federal Copyright Board Action
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 02 Oct 08 - 10:19 PM

Copyright board leaves royalty rate unchanged

By Ryan Nakashima
The Associated Press
updated 5:08 p.m. CT, Thurs., Oct. 2, 2008

LOS ANGELES - The federal Copyright Royalty Board on Thursday left the royalty that songwriters receive on sales of CDs and digital downloads at 9.1 cents per song for the next five years.

Both songwriters and music sellers applauded the ruling — but for different reasons. Apple Inc., which had threatened to shutter its iTunes store if the rate increased, appeared to have scored a clear win.

"We're pleased with the CRB's decision to keep royalty rates stable," Tom Neumayr, an Apple Inc. spokesman.

The Recording Industry Association of America, representing record labels, was pleased that the rate was frozen for the first time since 1977, meaning that if song prices increase royalties will make up a falling percentage of the companies' costs.

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The National Music Publishers' Association, which represented songwriters in the case, was happy the fees weren't cut in a declining music market.

It also preferred the per-song fee structure because the money its members are due won't change if record companies slash song prices to promote products like live concerts, from which songwriters and their publishers do not collect royalties.

"These events will bring clarity and order to an environment that for the past decade has been hampered by litigation and uncertainty," said David Israelite, president of the publishers' association, in a statement.

"In the end, songwriters and music publishers will have incentive to create and market music, and music fans will reap the rewards," he said.

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This was the first time in nearly three decades that the recording industry couldn't set a fee on its own for sales of recorded music. The last government hearing to set the so-called mechanical royalty rate was in 1980 and was triggered by a change in federal law.

The decision capped proceedings that began in January. Part of the disagreement stemmed from the rise of digital downloads — driven by Apple's iTunes store — which had never been treated separately from CD sales, which are plummeting.

Digital downloads grew 38 percent from 2006 to 2007 to become a $1.26 billion business, making up 23 percent of the market for recorded music, according to the RIAA.

Sales of physical music media such as CDs, cassettes and DVDs declined 19.1 percent to $7.5 billion in the same one-year period.

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John