October 18, 2004: The American
Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP),
representing over 190,000 members, and the Radio Music
License Committee (RMLC), representing most of the
nearly 12,000 commercial radio stations in the U.S.,
today announced a new agreement totaling in excess
of 1.7 Billion dollars. This is the largest single
licensing deal in the history of American radio. The
settlement, which was approved by Federal District
Court Judge William C. Conner on October 15, 2004,
provides stations with the right to perform ASCAP
music over the air and also as part of a simultaneous
stream of their over-the-air signals on their Internet
web sites. It also provides fee certainty to both
the radio industry and ASCAP's members. ASCAP's repertory,
the largest in the world, contains more than 7.5 million
copyrighted musical works of every style and genre,
in addition to works in the repertories of over 60
affiliated foreign performing rights organizations.
The agreement finalizes license fees for the period
2001-2003 and establishes new ASCAP licenses for the
period 2004-2009. The negotiated settlement replaces
revenue-based license fees with a set payment schedule
for the stations that will provide significant guaranteed
income to ASCAP composers, songwriters and music publishers.
Both sides will also benefit from a simplified and
streamlined administration process.
"We are very pleased with this agreement,"
said Keith Meehan, executive director of the RMLC.
"Separating royalty fees payable from radio station
revenues has been a goal of the RMLC for many years.
With this agreement we have now accomplished that
with both of the major performing rights organizations."
"Over $1.7 Billion dollars, fixed through 2009, indicates
the true economic value of our members' music to the
radio industry," said ASCAP's SVP, Director of Licensing
Vincent Candilora. "We were pleased to have reached
an agreement that establishes significant income increases
for our members that they can count on well into the
future, and provides the radio industry with the planning
information and simplified administration it views
as critical for business success. Effective negotiation
avoided the heavy cost of litigation for both sides
and resulted in an agreement which can only serve
to strengthen the longstanding partnership between
America's leading creators of music and their most
valuable customers."
About RMLC
The RMLC is an organization comprised of broadcaster
volunteers that represents the interests of the radio
industry in their dealings with the major US performing
rights organizations and on other music licensing
matters. The principal objectives of the RMLC are
to achieve fair and reasonable music performance licenses
for radio stations that reflect the realities of the
current and changing state of the radio business and
to enable radio stations to control their music costs.
PRESS CONTACTS:
ASCAP AND THE
LOCAL TELEVISION INDUSTRY ANNOUNCE
A LONG TERM LICENSING AGREEMENT
October 8, 2004: The American
Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP),
representing over 190,000 members, and the Television
Music License Committee (TMLC), representing over
1,200 local television stations, today announced a
long-term agreement covering the stations' performance
of ASCAP music in their analog and digital broadcast
signals, as well as station websites.
The unprecedented agreement covers an 11-year period,
retroactive from April 1998 to December 31, 2009,
providing substantial royalties to ASCAP's songwriters,
composers and music publishers.
Under the new agreement, industry-wide blanket license
fees for local TV stations for the period ending November
30, 2004 will remain at the interim levels of $98.1
million at which the stations have been paying since
April 1998. Effective December 1, 2004, the industry
blanket fee will be at an annual rate of $85 million.
The fee will increase in 2006 and each year thereafter
based on the prior year's increase in the Consumer
Price Index. Either side may "opt-out" of the agreement
at the end of 2008.
ASCAP will continue to offer a per program license
at a rate that reflects a station's actual music use.
Whether licensed on a blanket or per program basis,
a station's license fee will cover use of ASCAP music
in both its analog and digital transmissions, as well
as streaming of ASCAP music in local news programming
and other promotional uses transmitted via its website.
The agreement settled litigation, pending since 1998,
which would have set ASCAP fees for the local television
industry. The case was scheduled for trial in late
September. Under an antitrust consent decree between
ASCAP and the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S.
District Court in New York sets a reasonable fee for
any user of ASCAP music if the parties are unable
to agree on fees.
"We are pleased to have reached a long-term agreement
with ASCAP that provides stable music license fees
for the next five years," said Charles Sennet, chairman
of TMLC. "The agreement reflects ASCAP's important
position in the marketplace as well as the competitive
environment in which we as broadcasters operate. It
will cover local stations' digital signals, including
multicasting, as we make the transition from analog
to digital broadcasting. It also will cover the use
of ASCAP music on stations' promotional websites."
ASCAP's SVP of Licensing, Vincent Candilora, said,
"This agreement reflects the use of ASCAP music by
local television stations over an 11 year period.
Significant value for ASCAP members was accomplished
as a result of true negotiation between the parties.
And we are pleased that both sides were able to avoid
the time and expense of trial."
About TMLC
The Television Music License Committee is a not-for-profit
organization that represents over 1,200 local television
stations in negotiations with ASCAP, BMI and SESAC.
These three performing rights organizations represent
the vast majority of composers and publishers who
own music copyrights.
PRESS CONTACTS:
About ASCAP
2004 marks the 90th anniversary of the founding of
ASCAP. As the world's largest Performing Rights Organization,
ASCAP has over 190,000 composer, lyricist and music
publisher members with a repertory of more than 7.5
million copyrighted musical works of every style and
genre, in addition to the repertories of over 100
affiliated foreign performing rights organizations.
ASCAP is committed to protecting the rights of its
members by licensing and collecting royalties for
the public performance of their copyrighted works,
and then distributing these fees to the Society's
members based on performances. ASCAP's Board of Directors
is made up solely of writers and publishers, elected
by the membership every two years.
