Broadcast Law Blog

MARCH 23, 2010

In recent weeks, SoundExchange has begun to send letters to broadcasters who are streaming their signals on the Internet without paying their SoundExchange royalties. Despite all of the publicity about Internet radio royalties and the controversy about the rates for those royalties, there still seem to be webcasters unfamiliar with their obligations to SoundExchange.

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Broadcast Law Blog

MARCH 9, 2010

In one more indication that the Broadcast Performance Royalty (or " performance tax " as opponents of the legislation call it) is not dead yet is an article in yesterday's New York Times reviewing the issues at stake in the proceeding. What was perhaps most interesting about that article was the fact that it appeared only one page away from an article about Internet Radio service Pandora , and a discussion of how that hugely popular service was almost driven out of business by music ro

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Broadcast Law Blog

MARCH 18, 2010

The.co top level domain (TLD) is being opened to the general public, and one can envision a run on registrations similar to that experienced for.com. It is easy to see why the Colombia country code, formerly available in that country only, may become very popular in the US and elsewhere. For one thing,co is the standard abbreviation for "company.

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Broadcast Law Blog

MARCH 25, 2010

The Copyright Royalty Board has announced its approval of new sound recording performance royalties for " new subscription services ", i.e. music services provided to the customers of cable or satellite television systems by companies not in this business in 1998 at the time of the adoption of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This royalty was adopted after a settlement between Sirius XM Radio, the only music service which filed to participate in this proceeding, and SoundExchange.

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Broadcast Law Blog

MARCH 2, 2010

Getting legal education from a fake news program is always dangerous, but a recent episode of the Stephen Colbert Show, here , nicely demonstrated trademark law. The clip illustrates what we have written before , that the term " Olympics ", like " Super Bowl " and " March Madness " are trademarked, and attempts to use them in commercials or promotions, or to otherwise imply that a product or program is associated with one of these events, can lead a broadcaster into

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Broadcast Law Blog

MARCH 30, 2010

Last week, we wrote about a Commission decision that said that only one application in a noncommercial MX Group can be granted even if, when the first is granted, there are other applications in that group that would not be mutually exclusive with (i.e. would not create any prohibited interference to) the winning applicant. While multiple applicants can be granted out of an MX Group if there is a settlement, only one application will be granted when the point system analysis is performed.

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Broadcast Law Blog

MARCH 29, 2010

David Oxenford , Bob Corn-Revere , Brendan Holland , and others from Davis Wright Tremaine's media and communications practice will be in Las Vegas, Nevada from April 10-15 for the 2010 NAB Show. The NAB convention is an annual event and a focal point for engineering, legal, and business issues for the broadcasting and greater media worlds. Bob Corn-Revere will be speaking at the American Bar Association Conference , Representing Your Local Broadcaster , on April 11, on a panel on new technology

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Broadcast Law Blog

MARCH 25, 2010

The FCC today issued a Public Notice instructing applicants for new analog low power TV (LPTV) stations to amend their pending short-form applications by May 24th in order to specify digital operations. If the short-form application is not amended by May 24th it will be dismissed. As some of you may recall, way back in 2000 the FCC opened a window for the filing of new LPTV stations.

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Broadcast Law Blog

MARCH 22, 2010

Using music on your website , employees on Facebook or twitter , doing podcasts ? Everyone needs a guide to the legal is sues that you may face as broadcasters move their content to new platforms. At the Convention of the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters , held in Oklahoma City on March 18-19, David Oxenford conducted a seminar on Legal Issues for Broadcasters Operating in a Digital World – dealing with legal issues that broadcasters need to take into account when moving their content

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Broadcast Law Blog

MARCH 21, 2010

$15,000 per station was the cost of a broadcast licensee’s failure to adequately supervise two stations of which he was the licensee, but which were operated pursuant to time brokerage agreements or LMAs. Like many stations in these tough economic times, this licensee decided to allow a third party to provide the bulk of the programming and retain the bulk of the sales revenues, in exchange for a payment.

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Broadcast Law Blog

MARCH 10, 2010

Broadcasters need to be aware that ASCAP, BMI and SESAC (the " performing rights organizations " or PROs) don't cover them for all uses of music - especially uses that may be made on station websites. Offering downloads, podcasts, and streaming video featuring music all require specific permission from music rights holders. And, as we wrote just last week, incorporating music into recorded commercials also requires specific permission from rights holders - not just your routine payment

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Broadcast Law Blog

MARCH 28, 2010

In a decision released last week, the FCC's Audio Division denied the application for a new noncommercial FM station which had tentatively been selected to receive a permit for a new station because the applicant did not have reasonable assurance of transmitter site availability when it originally filed its application. This case makes clear how important that issue can be in connection with any application for a new broadcast station, and even in connection with applications for site changes by

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Broadcast Law Blog

MARCH 28, 2010

Incomplete public inspection files were the largest source of fines during the last license renewal cycle. We wrote last week about two noncommercial broadcasters whose renewal applications filed many years ago have just now led to consent decrees and voluntary contributions to the US treasury in lieu of fines. To help commercial broadcasters avoid these issues, we have prepared a Guide to the Basics of Public Inspection File Obligations for Commercial Radio and Television Broadcasters , discuss

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Broadcast Law Blog

MARCH 24, 2010

In two consent decrees released last week, the FCC's Enforcement Bureau agreed to significant "voluntary contributions" to the US Treasury to settle noncompliance issues reported in license renewal applications filed by noncommercial radio stations. Both stations had voluntarily reported public inspection file issues in their license renewals.

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Broadcast Law Blog

MARCH 20, 2010

On March 16, David Oxenford spoke at a Continuing Legal Education Seminar on the FCC’s Political Broadcasting rules. The panel, sponsored by the Federal Communications Bar Association , included another attorney in private practice, an attorney from the NAB, Bobby Baker (the head of the FCC’s Political Broadcasting office), and a media time buyer for political candidates.

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Broadcast Law Blog

MARCH 19, 2010

The FCC’s Media Bureau today asked for public comment on the Petition recently filed by a number of multichannel video providers - including seven large cable companies , both DBS companies , and Verizon – along with the American Cable Association and several public interest and trade organizations. The Petition seeks changes in the rules governing the retransmission consent process , including potentially requiring arbitration of disputes and limiting the ability of television stati

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Broadcast Law Blog

MARCH 18, 2010

In the last two weeks, David Oxenford has, at two different conferences, moderated panels on digital music rights and licenses. At the Digital Music Forum East , in New York City on February 25, 2010, his panel focused on rights and licenses generally, featuring panelists from SoundExchange, BMI, the Harry Fox Agency, Rightsflow and MediaNet. As a handout, David provided copies of Davis Wright Tremaine's Guide to The Basics of Digital Music Licensing , available here.

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Broadcast Law Blog

MARCH 17, 2010

Just a reminder that all Video Programing Distributors -- which includes broadcast television stations -- must identify a contact person for closed captioning issues, both immediate issues and general complaints, and file that contact information with the FCC by March 22, 2010. As we've discussed previously , new FCC closed captioning rules recently went into effect that require video programming distributors to establish a contact for handling immediate closed captioning concerns, as well a con

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Broadcast Law Blog

MARCH 20, 2010

In a recent decision , the FCC upheld the dismissal of a noncommercial FM application filed during the 2007 NCE FM window , despite the fact that the application was not mutually exclusive with any other pending application. This somewhat unusual result came about following the selection of a winner from among a group of mutually exclusive noncommercial applications.

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Broadcast Law Blog

MARCH 9, 2010

David Silverman participated on a panel discussing the legal aspects of social media at the Great Lakes Broadcasting Conference in Lansing, Michigan on March 3, 2010. His PowerPoint presentation focused on the risks and benefits of using Twitter, Facebook and other social media in the employment context , including use by broadcasters. There are a number of laws that impact both the protection and vulnerability of social media.

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Broadcast Law Blog

MARCH 3, 2010

The FCC's rules limiting the common ownership of radio and television stations, and of television stations and daily newspapers , are triggered by the Grade A contours of the television station encompassing the city of license of the radio station, or the city in which the newspaper is published. Since June, there has been one problem with the application of that rule ( Section 73.3555 ) - television stations in the digital world no longer have Grade A contours.

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Broadcast Law Blog

MARCH 16, 2010

The FCC today released its National Broadband Plan to Congress, and in it spelled out its suggestions for the future of television. Facilitating the deployment of ubiquitous, dependable wireless broadband service is identified as a fundamental goal of the Commission’s proposals. The authors of the Commission’s report have viewed the problems experienced by some wireless broadband providers in major markets as indicative of a coming shortage in wireless capacity.

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Broadcast Law Blog

MARCH 4, 2010

Using music in commercials is not as simple as just paying your ASCAP, BMI and SESAC royalties. While many broadcasters think that paying these royalties is enough to give them the rights to do anything they want with music on their stations, it does not. The payments to these Performing Rights Organizations (PROs ) only cover the right to publicly perform music, i.e. to broadcast it.

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