Agreement Reached on Royalties for Some Digital Music Services
Sep 23, 2008
Several groups representing the digital music industry, including the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) .and the Digital Media Association (DiMA), have announced what they're calling a "breakthrough agreement" in the ongoing dispute over some music royalties.
Under the new agreement, songwriters, composers and publishers whose songs are used in interactive streaming music or limited music download services will receive royalites of 10.5 percent of revenue from January 1, 2008 on (with a rate of 8.5 percent on retroactive revenue from the end of 2001 through the end of 2007).
As LA Times writer Jim Puzzanghera explains though, the deal is complex and doesn't address the "high-stakes stalemate between SoundExchange, which collects the fees for artists and record companies, and Internet radio sites such as Pandora and Live365." He notes that are also other "big mechanical royalty issues to be resolved by the Copyright Royalty Board, which must rule by Oct. 2."
Check out the LA Times for more details.
Tags:
copyright, digital music, DiMA, Internet radio, RIAA, royalties
