Politics  :  Law   RSS  Net Radio Appeals on Royalties  Reuters
Email 07.16.02   In a motion filed late Monday, a group of radio
stations said a federal court in Philadelphia and the U.S.
Copyright Office had misinterpreted the law when they said that
radio stations had to pay musicians and recording companies when
they "stream" their songs over the Internet.  The Copyright
Office established a rate of 0.07 cents per listener per song in
June, which means that Internet-only webcasters and broadcast
giants like Clear Channel Communications would be on the hook
for 70 cents for each song played to an audience of 1,000
listeners.  The rate was decried as onerous by radio stations
and webcasters, many of whom said they would be forced to shut
their doors.  Webcasters did not participate in the appeal of
the August 2001 decision, which was filed in the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania.  Radio stations have historically been
required to pay per-song royalties to songwriters but not
performers, recording companies,