Rates for bundling XM Radio with basic TV under review
The Copyright Royalty Board has commenced a rulemaking process to determine appropriate royalty rates for the transmission and ephemeral statutory licenses for sound recordings that would apply to a new type of service. According to XM Satellite Radio's petition to the CRB:
"This new type of subscription service performs sound recordings on digital audio channels programmed by the licensee for transmission by a satellite television distribution service to its residential customers, where the audio channels are bundled with television channels as part of a `basic' package of service and not for a separate fee."
According to XM Radio's petition, the new service will include a number of its music and non-music audio channels and will be "a part of the DirecTV basic package of service, without requiring payment of a separate subscription fee."
The new service would utilize the statutory copyright licenses provided in 17 U.S.C. 114(d)(2) (for performance by means of subscription digital audio transmission) and 17 U.S.C. 112(e) (for ephemeral recordings solely for use in those transmissions).
Interested parties must respond by January 4, 2006.
Cathy Kirkman is a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto, California. Her practice focuses on intellectual