Senator Jesse Helms is introducing the Small Webcaster Settlement Act of 2002, a new bill intended to provide some relief to webcasters from the extraordinary royalty rates they otherwise are obligated to pay for transmitting copyrighted sound recordings over the Internet.
A copy of the Bill is here.
This bill, if enacted, will mean that noncommercial webcasters, such as college Internet radio stations and hobbyists, do not need to make any payment until June 20, 2003.
Commercial webcasters would have until December 15, 2002, to make agreements to pay royalties based on a percentage of revenue or expenses plus a minimum fee, and negotiate other terms such as recordkeeping.
Watch this space for more news about webcasting legislation.