Copyright Royalty Board releases rates for webcasters for 2021-2025

 By Emmanuel Legrand

The Copyright Royalty Board in the US has issued its written determination of royalty rates for webcasting royalties for 2021-2025, as part of what is known as Web V rate proceedings, resulting in an increase of about 17%-21% over the rates determined five years ago.

  The new rates, for the period from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2025, apply to digital performances of sound recordings over the Internet by non-exempt, non-interactive transmission services (webcasters), such as broadcasters simulcasting their programmes, and to the making of ephemeral recordings to facilitate those performances.

  The rate for commercial subscription services in 2021 is $0.0026 (against $0.0022 in the previous round, or up 16.6%) per performance and for commercial non-subscription services in 2021 is $0.0021 (against $0.0017, or up 21%) per performance. Performances are understood as one play per listener.

A minimum fee of $1,000 per station

  The rates for the period 2022 through 2025 for both subscription and non-subscription services "shall be adjusted to reflect the increases or decreases, if any, in the general price level."

  Licensees must pay a minimum fee of $1,000 each year for each channel or station. The maximum aggregate minimum fee in any calendar year that a Commercial Webcaster must pay is $100,000.

  The rates for non commercial webcasters are of $1,000 annually for each station or channel for all webcast transmissions totaling not more than 159,140 Aggregate Tuning Hours (ATH) in a month, for each year in the rate term.

Creators compensated more fairly

  The three Copyright Royalty Judges also determined details relating to the rates for each category of webcasting service, such as minimum fee and administrative terms. Initially, the rates were due to be announced at the end of 2020, but the process has been delayed by the pandemic.

  Royalties for the use of sound recording by non-interactive services are collected and distributed by Washington, DC-based rights society SoundExchange, whose President and CEO Michael Huppe welcomed the rise in rates. "This CRB decision means that creators will be compensated more fairly when their recordings are played on digital music services," said Huppe in a statement.

  He added: "While the rates are lower than SoundExchange and others proposed, they represent a step forward toward building a healthier music industry. The decision reflects the compelling case made by SoundExchange and our allies that we need to close the gap between what artists and rights holders have been paid and what they should be paid for their work. We haven’t fully closed that gap, but today is a step in the right direction."

  David Oxenford, from law firm Wilkinson Barker Knauer, noted that "from these rates and terms, it appears that the CRB rejected broadcasters’ request that a substantially lower royalty be assessed against broadcast simulcasts, given factors including the total inability of listeners to influence the songs that they are hearing."