Six more Democrats are co-sponsoring legislation that would levy a performance royalty on radio stations playing music on terrestrial radio (see 2108120059), ex-Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., chairman of musicFIRST, told reporters Monday. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, Miss.; House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, Calif.; Brad Sherman, Calif.; Thomas Suozzi, N.Y.; Jim Cooper, Tenn.; and Brian Higgins, N.Y., are sponsoring the American Music Fairness Act (HR-4130). MusicFIRST released an August poll of 1,455 U.S. adults, in which 54% said it’s “unfair” that “artists are not paid for radio airplay.” NAB, which supports a rival resolution, the Local Radio Freedom Act, responded to the poll: “Not only would a performance fee upend the century-long symbiotic relationship between radio and the music industry, but it would devastate thousands of radio stations across the country,” NAB CEO Gordon Smith said.
The royalty rates for sound recordings via streaming commercial subscription services is .0026 cent per performance for 2021, while for commercial nonsubscription services it's .0021 cents per performance, the copyright royalty judges said in a final determination Monday. Those rates for 2022-2025 will be adjusted using the change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, they said. The rate for noncommercial webcasters is $1,000 annually for each station or channel for all webcast transmissions totaling not more than 159,140 aggregate tuning hours (ATH) in a month, for each year in the rate term. If a noncommercial webcaster makes total transmissions in excess of 159,140 ATH in any month on any individual channel or station, the fees for the transmissions it makes on that channel or station in excess of 159,140 ATH will be .0021 cent per performance in 2021. Those rates also will be adjusted going through 2025 using the index, they said.
The Senate Judiciary Committee held over every item from Wednesday’s markup, including S-1787, the State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act (see 2108100045). The committee spent several hours Wednesday in a hearing on the FBI’s handling of the investigation of Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics doctor convicted of sexual abuse.
Innovators like Sonos “should be able to trust the courts” to protect their intellectual property from companies like Google “that attempt to free-ride” off its “high-quality engineering and hard work,” six Grammy- and Oscar-winning sound engineers and producers told the International Trade Commission Monday in docket 337-TA-1191 (login required). Google violated Section 337 of the 1930 Tariff Act for importing smart speakers and other devices found to infringe five Sonos multiroom audio patents, said a notice of initial determination (ID) signed Aug. 13 by ITC Chief Administrative Law Judge Charles Bullock (see 2108130080). A final ITC determination on Bullock’s recommended import ban of the infringing Google products is due mid-December. Google and Sonos filed petitions for review of Bullock’s decision, with Google alleging the infringement findings were “predicated on misunderstandings of the plain meaning” of the patents, and Sonos arguing the ID could permit Google to “continue importing every single product by making trivial software changes” in the accused goods. Prominent engineers and producers Tom Elmhirst, Nigel Godrich, Noah Goldstein, Chris Jenkins, Emily Lazar and Manny Marroquin “have collectively been working with Sonos to tune its speakers for over five years,” they said. “During our collaboration we have observed Sonos continually pushing the boundaries of home audio and leading in the space,” they said. “Sonos invented multi-room wireless audio, and we appreciate how Sonos listens to our feedback and incorporates it into their products. This is unusual for tech companies, which typically prefer to ‘engineer’ everything in-house, without asking creative professionals like us for our input.”
HD Radio expanded to motorbikes, said parent Xperi Monday. HD Radio receivers are available on the digital dash display of the 2022 BMW R 18 Transcontinental. The system, for AM and FM, broadcasts a digital signal over traditional radio frequencies, allowing for up to three additional channels of separate audio programming, along with improved “static-fee” sound quality, emergency alerts and metadata. HD Radio receivers have had an estimated 85-plus billion listening hours in cars since 2005; over 95% of all Americans are able to receive an HD Radio signal, Xperi said.
The FCC opened a help desk to answer questions on the $1.9 billion program for removing Huawei and ZTE equipment from carrier networks, the Wireline Bureau said Friday. The FCC has an Oct. 29 target for opening the reimbursement application window.
TCL appears to be making the new Amazon Fire TV, we were told. The e-commerce giant unveiled the products Thursday and they include hands-free Alexa voice control via built-in mics. “It is common for TCL to provide both components and assembly for our branded TV competitors,” a spokesperson emailed. “However, the OEM side of our business operates with confidentiality agreements.” Amazon works with “a variety of suppliers and partners to source and build devices,” it emailed. The company also beefed up its Fire TV streaming media stick with new Alexa voice features, more power and a quad-core processor.
COVID-19-related timing provision adjustments are extended through Nov. 7, the Copyright Office said Wednesday (see 2107090046). The CO is allowing flexibility for applicant correspondence that was due between Aug. 10 and Sept. 9, the office said Wednesday, citing a technical upgrade-related outage. Claims can be reopened by contacting a public information officer.
Debuting new releases on Disney+ cuts off potential viewers who aren’t current subscribers and don’t pick up the service and pay the additional Premium Access fees, blogged Parks Associates analyst Liam Gaughan Thursday, commenting on Disney’s three-pronged strategy for releases via theaters, Disney+ and Premium Access. Parks data shows 44% of viewers are unlikely to subscribe to an online video service for access to an in-demand title, Gaughan said. Referencing comments Disney CEO Bob Chapek made on a July earnings call (see 2108130027), Gaughan said day-and-date release offers viewers more flexibility in viewing options, but it’s not clear at what loss to revenue. “Multiple viewers who could have purchased individual movie tickets may have ended up watching Black Widow together at home, depleting the potential box office revenue,” he said, citing Black Widow’s $367 million global box-office receipts through late August plus $125 million in streaming and download retail receipts and noting the film is one of the lowest grossing Marvel Studios titles released by Disney. A shortened window for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which premiered Friday, “should increase revenue from both anticipating viewers and casual moviegoers,” said Gaughan. A diversified approach lets the company continue experimenting with theatrical and transactional windowing as it observes changing viewing habits, he said. Disney didn't comment Friday.
The FCC should clarify that its rules for foreign-sponsored content don’t apply to “advertisements for commercial goods and services of any length or type,” said Meredith in comments posted Thursday in docket 20-299. Meredith’s arguments echo those by all four network affiliate groups (see 2107190053), which requested that clarification in July. “Clarifying as such will allow the Commission to meet the goals of the Foreign Sponsorship Report and Order, provide certainty for regulated entities, and avoid administrative law concerns,” Meredith said. NAB, the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council, and the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters called on the FCC to reconsider the foreign-sponsored content rules (see 2108130074).