CRB stands for Copyright Royalty Board, a panel of three judges that oversees the rates and terms of statutory licenses and makes determinations on the distribution of royalties collected by the U.S. Copyright Office. The Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act of 2004 led to the creation of the three permanent judge panel. The Copyright Royalty Board reached headlines all over the world in 2007 when the fees for Internet-based radio services were increased.
Webcasters faced a hike in royalty payments after a decision by the CRB. One component was to remove the cap on the per station minimum fee of $500, which was originally set at $2500. National Public Radio (NPR) and a group of webcasters requested a rehearing on the changing of the fees, but it was denied on the grounds that there was no introduction of new evidence. In 2006, the per play/per listener rate was 0.0008, up to 0.0011 in 2007, 0.0014 in 2008, 0.0018 in 2009 and 0.0019 in 2010.
Related glossary items include..Related news items in the AfterDawn archives include..
Yahoo threatens to drop Internet radio because of royalties- (November, 2007)
AOL and Yahoo are both considering shutting down their Web radio operations due to a 38% spike in royalty payments.
US Copyright Royalty Board rubber stamps recording industry proposed rates- (March 5th , 2007)
The CRB chooses the proposed rates set by the recording industry, kicking off quite a stir among Internet-based radio webcasters and SoundExchange.
