Copyright Royalty Judges Announce Comment Period for Proposed Royalty Rates

Copyright Royalty judges opened a comment period for proposed regulations on royalty rates and terms for the digital transmission of sound recordings by new subscription services and the creation of ephemeral recordings to facilitate such transmissions from Jan. 1, 2016 to Dec. 31, 2020, said a Federal Registernotice Thursday. Comments are due Feb. 17, it said. Performing rights organization SoundExchange and SiriusXM asked the judges to adopt the two sides' settlement on royalties for music services on cable and satellite-TV, covering a period of several years. Spotify was among those seeking to participate in the proceeding. The judges proposed a monthly payment of .0179 cents per subscriber to the subscription service of a licensee for a “stand-alone contract” in 2016; .0185 cents, 2017; .0190 cents, 2018; .0196 cents, 2019; and .0202 cents, 2020. For “bundled contracts,” the proposed rate is .0299 cents for 2016; .0308 cents, 2017; .0317 cents, 2018; .0326 cents, 2019; and .0336 cents, 2020.