Way back when we reported on a settlement between certain public radio entities and SoundExchange regarding the payment of royalties and filing of certain information regarding songs played over the Internet for the years 2006-2010, the best we could tell you was "if you’re eligible, you’ll no longer be dealing with SoundExchange".
We’ve got a little more information now on who these stations will be dealing with: the winner is "NPR Public Interactive"!
In order to be covered by the settlement, a webcaster must:
- Be Licensed by the Federal Communications Commission;
- Originate programming (not be solely a repeater station);
- Be a member or affiliate of:
- NPR
- American Public Media
- Public Radio International,
- Public Radio Exchange,
- the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, or
- or be a public radio station that is qualified to receive funding from CPB.
- Qualify as a "noncommercial broadcaster" under the statutory licensing rules; and
- Webcast as part of the mission that entitles the owner to be exempt from taxation under Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code, or, if it is owned by a government entity, operate for a public purpose.
The 450 or so qualifying stations agreed to make a $1.85 million lump sum payment to SoundExchange covering the years 2006-2010. We now understand that individual stations covered by this settlement will be making their payments to NPR Public Interactive.
So, public radio licensees, keep an eye out for correspondence from NPR Public Interactive. If you believe yourself to be covered by this settlement and don’t hear something from NPR Public Interactive in the very near future, please let us know, as first reports to SoundExchange will be made in mid-July.
