Radio wins big in streaming argument
In a big win for the radio industry, record labels and musicians have lost their bid to have internet streaming of music declared separate to the transmission across the airwaves for royalty purposes.
Justice Lindsay Foster has ruled:
‘the members of CRA who stream their radio programs on the Internet do so only as part of a program package which also simultaneously transmits those programs via frequency modulated radio waves to the consumer’s FM receiver. In truth, the service is but one service being a service which combines various delivery methods or platforms and which delivers the same radio program using the broadcasting services band’
PPCA Chief Executive, Dan Rosen (left), has said that they would consider appealing the decision referring to it as a ruling made on ‘a technical point’ and noted that they will continue to work for a better deal for artists and labels.
Commercial Radio Australia welcomed the decision which means that radio stations will not incur any additional fees to simulcast over the internet.