Last week, Congress passed the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (the “Act”) which, among other things, reinstates the FCC’s former Video Description rules for television broadcasters, extends closed captioning of video programming to the Internet, and requires the FCC to examine methods of increasing the accessibility…
The FCC has opened a rulemaking proposing reforms to its broadband health care initiatives for rural and tribal areas. The FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking originally released in July was published in the Federal Register today, which establishes the deadline for submitting Comments and Reply Comments in the proceeding. Comments…
The press is buzzing with news, leaked late yesterday and announced today in a document entitled The Third Way: A Narrowly Tailored Broadband Framework, that FCC Chairman Genachowski is proposing to reclassify the transmission component of broadband Internet access as a “telecommunications service” subject to FCC regulation. As almost everyone…
One of the benefits of practicing law in a multifaceted law firm is the opportunity to work with lawyers in every area of law. It is always a good learning experience, as you get to explore the often hazy areas of law that dwell at the nexus of multiple practice…
The fact that you are reading this tells us that you have found your way to CommLawCenter.com, our effort to simplify the gathering of information and resources relating to the communications industry, particularly regarding its legal aspects. CommLawCenter is an effort to step outside the normal confines of law firm…
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has ruled that the Copyright Royalty Board is constitutional. The decision ends for now a long-running controversy over the legitimacy of the CRB, which sets royalty rates that webcasters pay to copyright owners– rates that webcasters see as excessively high and…
10/28/2009 Last week the FCC launched a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to adopt six “open Internet” rules that would bind all broadband access providers, including those providing mobile and satellite broadband services. If adopted, the rules could have pervasive and lasting effects in many industry sectors, including broadband,…
Recent Settlements and Court Rulings Bring Clarity to Royalty Landscape 8/18/2009 The long-running battle over royalties owed by webcasters–companies that broadcast music over the Internet–took several significant leaps towards conclusion last month with important developments both inside and outside of the courtroom. Spurred by the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009,…
3/24/2009 This Advisory is intended specifically to help guide individuals and companies, that wish to distribute recorded music over the Internet for pleasure or profit, through the maze of licenses and royalties required for such “webcasting” activities. It discusses the recent settlement agreements entered into between SoundExchange and the Corporation…
10/1/2008 On September 30, the U.S. Senate approved the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008, a bill giving SoundExchange and webcasters authority to finalize an agreement on performance royalty rates. The bill amends section 114 of the Copyright Act to give SoundExchange until February 15, 2009, to reach a deal over…