SoundExchange Reporting Blog

Recently, the folks at SoundExchange held a webinar geared towards webcasters, that is you folks who stream music. It was, to put it mildly, extremely informative. They covered many of the basics of the statutory license, royalty rates, reporting requirements, various Webcasting Service Agreements (such as the CPB-SoundExchange agreement), etc. It also included a lengthy Q&A session that touched on many interesting issues.

For those who didn’t attend, SoundExchange has made a video of the webinar available on their YouTube channel. I’ve also embedded the webinar video below.

You can also read the questions and answers that came up here, but I strongly, enthusiastically, and most definitely whole-heartedly recommend watching the entire video, so you can hear the discussion before the Q&A for background. Trust me, you’ll learn a lot about what this whole thing is about and who SoundExchange is and exactly what they do (and don’t do).

Some of the takeaways, for me:

• The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which governs all of this is  real law and the penalties for breaking it are potentially high
• Much like myself and Public Interactive, SoundExchange cannot provide legal advice
• SoundExchange cannot provide waivers for the DMCA’s Performance Complement, even for classical music; only the rights holders (i.e., the labels) can do so

But, please, do yourself a big favor and make time to watch the webinar video.

Finally, in addition to webinars like this and the aforementioned YouTube channel, SoundExhange also offers lots of helpful information for both stations and artists on their blog, as well as via Facebook and Twitter. Check it all out.

For those we don’t realize it, the current agreement between the CPB and SoundExchange expires at the end of 2010. Those of you who like having the CPB pay your streaming royalties fear not, though, because a new agreement that takes effect on January 1, 2011 is already in place.

From a station’s perspective, the main aspects of the new deal, which runs through the end of 2015, are the same as the old one: the CPB pays all royalties for music streaming by covered stations and the vast majority of stations still only have to report on 14 days (of their choosing) per calendar quarter, etc.

However, there are some important things to keep in mind about the new deal:

All stations that are eligible for coverage under the agreement will have to opt-in for coverage under the new deal – even those of you who have already opted-in for coverage under the existing agreement!

Opting-in for coverage under the new deal will be a similar process to opting-in under the current deal (i.e., via a CPB web site). The exact process has not yet been determined. More information on how that will work, and when you’ll be able to opt-in, will be forthcoming via this blog and emails.

As a reminder, in order to be eligible for coverage under the CPB-SoundExchange agreement, your organization must be one of the following:

• An NPR member
• An NFCB member
• A CPB Community Service Grant recipient

If your station used to fall into one of these categories but no longer does, you will not be eligible for coverage under the new agreement. Public Interactive and the CPB are currently compiling the complete list of eligible stations based on the latest NPR/NFCB member lists and CPB grantees.

Covered stations will continue to report quarterly to SoundExchange via Pubic Interactive.

Finally, all stations streaming music still need to adhere to the restrictions imposed by the DMCA’s Performance Complement. Just a friendly reminder.

As always, contact me with any questions – or good turkey brining recipes. I’m on the lookout for one…

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Some very promising news came out of our nation’s capital yesterday: a bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives that would eliminate the Performance Complement of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) for public radio stations.

The Performance Complement, you may recall, is that particularly annoying bit of law that says things like you can’t stream more than four songs by the same artist in a three hour period, etc. and so forth. Needless to say, eliminating these silly restrictions would be a great boon to all.

Below is the official press release from NPR with more details.

Before you get too excited, though, there are a couple of things to bear in mind:

1. This bill is not law yet – it’s just a bill, yes it’s only a bill. Until and unless it becomes a law, the Performance Complement is still in effect.

2. If this bill does become a law, this won’t affect SoundExchange reporting. That is to say, all of the music you stream would still have to be reported as it is currently, including the onerous “report each track individually” requirement. Changing that is a whole other kettle of fish.

But still – exciting and hopeful! Thanks to all who helped get things this far. Keep all your digits crossed.

NPR Applauds the Introduction of the Public Radio Music Enhancement Act of 2010

September 30, 2010; Washington, D.C. – NPR expresses its support of the Public Radio Music Enhancement Act of 2010, H.R. 6307, introduced yesterday by Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) in the U.S. House of Representatives.  The bill will improve the audience experience provided by public radio music stations in communities across America by easing restrictions on public radio stations’ music streams imposed by the performance complement.

“My legislation offers a narrow fix that has broad implications for the music-loving public in my home state of Wisconsin and across the country,” said Congresswoman Baldwin. “I look forward to working with NPR to further enhance its programming and better serve its listeners,” Baldwin said.

“We are enormously grateful for Congresswoman Baldwin’s leadership on this issue. Music is a critical element of public radio’s community service, connecting audiences with the performers, songwriters, musicians, lyricists and composers who enhance their lives. Congresswoman Baldwin’s common-sense legislation would allow public radio to improve that service and enhance audience enjoyment in the digital age,” said Vivian Schiller, NPR’s president and CEO.

Included as part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in 1998, the performance complement arbitrarily limits the number of times stations can stream songs online from the same artist, album or compilation within a 3-hour period. In effect, this prevents public radio stations—some of the last free sources of music in quintessential genres like classical, jazz and folk—from streaming symphonies in their entirety, promoting local and emerging artists, or properly educating their listeners about the lives and careers of American musical masters.

“We look forward to working with Congresswoman Baldwin on this important legislation as the process moves forward,” Schiller concluded.

-NPR-

Media relations contact: Danielle Deabler, ddeabler [at] npr [dor] org / 202.513.2303

Apparently there’s some confusion among a few stations regarding when they must begin reporting to SoundExchange (SX). Some stations are under the impression that reporting isn’t required until 2011. This is most definitely not true; any stations streaming copyrighted sound recordings on-line must report to SoundExchange now. Failure to do so puts your station at risk of being found in violation of copyright law.

This applies to all stations which are under the CPB-SX agreement. CPB is paying the royalties but your station must file the reports. Stations covered by the CPB agreement have the benefit of not paying royalties, but they must report now.  The rules and laws about royalty payments and reporting of musical performances over the Internet have been in place since the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was signed into law in 1998. Many stations were apparently either not aware of these obligations or chose to ignore them. While the announcement last year of the agreement between the CPB and SoundExchange may have brought these obligations to light for some stations, they did not delay the requirement to begin providing reports.

The bottom line is, if your station is not already providing reports for SoundExchange, it should begin doing so immediately. Each quarter, Public Interactive (PI) sends SoundExchange a list of all stations that have opted to be covered under the CPB-SX agreement, along with the data from those who have reported. As you might imagine, it would be fairly easy for SoundExchange to figure out which stations are not reporting. And stations which aren’t reporting could be in violation of copyright law. CPB selected Public Interactive to help stations comply with the reporting requirements in order to avoid any such repercussions. PI is not involved in the disbursement of payments to artists or in deciding whether stations are, or are not, in compliance. We have tools and recommendations to make reporting easier.

So, if you’re not already reporting, don’t wait any longer! Please contact us today to get started.

This week there was a small, but not insignificant, bit of news for you classical music folks: NPR has secured an agreement from Naxos, one of the world’s largest classical music labels, to waive the performance complement of the DMCA. This waiver applies to all public radio stations covered by the CPB-SoundExchange agreement and eliminates the need to abide by the performance complement for any classical music whose rights are held by Naxos.

So – good news! Couple of things to bear in mind here:

1. This does not affect the reporting of classical music to SoundExchange via Public Interactive; that is, the same reporting rules continue to apply (e.g. report each track separately, include album titles, etc.).

2. This only applies to stations covered by the CPB-SoundExchange agreement. If your station has not explicitly opted-in to be covered by the deal, then the waiver does not apply to you.

3. The waiver only applies to the playing of recordings owned by Naxos.

NPR views this as, hopefully, the beginning of a process of approaching other labels as well. Let’s all cross our fingers. It’s the little things…

Just wanted to bring to everybody’s attention a very interesting rundown of the basics of music licensing in digital media here, recently written by David Oxenford and Robert Driscoll. They do a first rate job of describing many of the issues in layman’s terms. I highly recommend that everybody take a few minutes to read it.

DISCLAIMER: I myself am not a lawyer, and so cannot provide any further interpretation of these issues for you. If you ask I will recommend – as I already have to many – that you consult with your own legal counsel about any questions involving interpretation of the laws that govern all of this (i.e., the Digital Millennium Copyright Act).

Mr. Oxenford just published a piece today about how SoundExchange is starting to contact stations that are in not in compliance with royalty payments for music streaming. I’m not aware of SoundExchange having yet contacted of any of stations covered by the CPB-SX agreement for non-compliance – but I assume it’s only a matter of time. Don’t be one of those stations!

On another note, the deadline for getting Public Interactive your Q1 2010 SoundExchange reporting data is fast approaching. Please please please don’t wait until the last minute to submit your data!

Last week I was in in beautiful Portland, Oregon for the Western States Public Radio (WSPR) Fall Conference 2009. On Wednesday I took part in a session on everybody’s favorite topic, SoundExchange reporting.

The session panelists also included Washington, DC attorney Melodie Virtue and Ginny Berson of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. Melodie went over the legalities of the DMCA and such and I covered the basics of reporting to SoundExchange through Public Interactive then we fielded questions. I thought it was an excellent session and hopefully those in attendance did also.

For those who couldn’t make it, here’s an action shot from the session:

WSPR 2009 SoundExchange Session

You can almost feel the excitement in the air, can’t you?

Big thanks for Paul Stankavich of KPLU for inviting us to hold this session and for putting the whole conference together. Thanks Paul!

You can download the various slides and handouts from the session using the links below.

Melodie’s slides on music licensing

My slides on SX reporting through PI

My SX Reporting Quick Start Tips handout

As many of you have already heard me say, I’m am not a lawyer – nor do I play one on TV or in the workplace. Depending on your outlook, this may be a good thing or a bad thing. Unfortunately, for you stations that have asked me specific questions about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), specifically about what restrictions it imposes on what you can and can’t stream, that means I can’t answer your question.

The DMCA is, to put it mildly, confusing. In order to really understand it or interpret it, I would strongly recommend you consult your own legal counsel, as Public Interactive cannot provide legal counsel or advice.

However, we can direct you to something called the Performance Complement to the DMCA which outlines the basic restrictions on streaming. You can download it here. We strongly recommend that everybody take a look at it.

Honestly, though, beyond sharing this document, we can’t offer any advice. Again, please consult with your own legal counsel for proper interpretation and guidance.

Perhaps I should have gone to law school after all… oh well.