Senators Pledge To "Move Forward" with IREA Unless Webcasters, SoundExchange Deal by Labor Day

Senators Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) said they're going to take further action to try to pass the Internet Radio Equality Act unless SoundExchange and webcasters can come to some sort of agreement by September 3, when Congress resumes.

The bill (S.1353)
currently has only 5 co-sponsors in the Senate, and would need another 51 in order to pass. Still, it's good to see these Senators lighting a fire under the negotiations in the interest of a workable royalty rate.

(The consensus, from what I've heard, is that a deal with small webcasters should happen by then, but the outlook for medium and larger webcasters is murkier.)

Here's their statement:

"We sponsored the Internet Radio Equality Act because the Copyright Royalty Board’s decision to dramatically increase royalties and apply what we see as unfounded minimum rates threatens to devastate the Internet radio industry. The fact is online radio services do not have enough revenue to support what will amount to unprecedented royalties. The $500 per channel minimum fee alone will deliver an over $1 billion annual windfall to record companies, a windfall that is not justified by any business or equity considerations.

"Now we are hearing that the recording industry is attempting to use this aspect of the CRB decision to force webcasters to adopt recording restrictions far in excess of the controls that have governed broadcast content for decades [link]. While we strongly support a negotiated solution, we will not allow the minimum fee issue to be used to force an agreement that mandates DRM technology and fails to respect the established principles of fair use and consumer rights.

"After the July 15 deadline came and went we were pleased to learn thatSoundExchange was negotiating with webcasters, and we expected to avoidpushing forward with this legislation. But, as Congress heads into itsAugust recess, we are troubled by the lack of negotiating progressbeing reported. Broadcasters report that their June 6 offer toSoundExchange has yet to warrant a response, and webcasters report thatnegotiating meetings with SoundExchange are proving difficult toschedule.

"Internet radio is crucial to many segments of business and culture –
to small and large webcasters building sustainable businesses; toindependent artists trying to make it in a crowded industry; and tomillions of music fans searching for new diverse music that corporateradio generally does not offer. Innovation and creativity are thewinners if Internet radio flourishes, and are the losers if Internetradio stagnates.

"If great progress toward a fair solution for webcasters is not made byCongress's return to Washington after Labor Day, then we plan to takeexpeditious steps toward passage of the Internet Radio Equality Act. Wefeel the Senate must take action, and we will make every effort movethe Internet Radio Equality Act to the floor."

In other words, they will pull this car over right now, unless the parties involved stop bickering.

(image from e-copernicus)