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MP3 scourge's royalty raise rejected

Recording industry will not be paid more for digital music transmissions

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) last week failed to win higher royalty rates on digitally transmitted music for its members. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia threw out the RIAA's demand that the Library of Congress increase the standard royalty paid to recording companies for the use of music broadcast over a digital network from 6.5 per cent to 40 per cent. The case is analogous to the royalties paid to recording companies by radio stations. Recording companies have only been able to claim royalties on digital broadcasts since 1995. The RIAA claimed that the Library of Congress was not setting a "market rate". However, the court said the law gives the Library the right to set the royalty to whatever it considers reasonable, and that royalty need not be a market rate. ®

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