Welcome to VOW, the Voice Of Webcasters web site - a site created to help give webcasters a central place to come together on issues related to our industry. We are not a trade organization. We simply created this site as a neutral place to share information and ideas to promote and defend the interests of the webcasting industry.

Representative James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) introduced a bill late Wednesday, Sept. 27, that will put a 6 month stay on the CARP sound performance copyright rate - in essence giving webcasters and Congress time to sort through the issues and come up with a better solution than the current exorbitant rate that threatens Internet Radio. HR 5469 will be voted on Tuesday, October 1 but in order to make sure it passes, we need all of you to CALL your House reps before next Tuesday. (Click here for more information)

Go to www.congress.org
Type in your zip code. (click here to find your 9 digit zip code)
Find out who your House Rep is and click on their link.
Call their office and ask for the Internet Legislative Aide.
Tell them your name and address, and that you listen to Internet Radio and want them to support HR 5469.
If you can't reach them - leave a message along with your name and address. (They'll want to know you're from their district.)

Or fax your message by clicking here.

This is your chance to lobby Congress on behalf of Internet Radio - DO IT!

Representatives Jay Inslee (D-WA), George Nethercutt (R-WA) and Rick Boucher (D-VA) have stepped up to protect small businesses from being unfairly forced out of business by the performance copyright royalties recently affirmed by the Librarian of Congress. They have introduced a bill in the US House of Representatives (HR 5285) that would SAVE INTERNET RADIO (click here to view a copy of this important legislation). In protecting Internet radio, it will help ensure that artists will have a chance to receive fair compensation for their work and that webcasters will have a chance to survive and grow to provide artists with a place to promote their music.

1. Small businesses (those that -- six million dollars in gross revenue) will be exempted from last week's decision by the Librarian of Congress's on fees for web radio. The royalty ruling would stand for larger web radio providers.
2. All future CARPs must change the royalty rate standard from the "willing-buyer/willing-seller" to the "traditional" standard that was enacted by the 1976 Copyright Act. Royalty payments for the small businesses that have been exempted from the current CARP decision will be calculated using the traditional standard, and rolled into the next CARP.
3. Small businesses will be exempted from the payment requirement for participation in future CARP proceedings. During this last CARP, all participants were forced to pay an equal share of the total costs; large industry interests were represented in the proceedings, but many small businesses were unable to participate.
4. All future CARPs must eliminate fees for temporary recordings ("ephemeral recordings") that web radio broadcasters create to facilitate the transmission of the song to users. The Registrar of Copyrights has determined that these temporary recordings have no independent economic value, and should not be subject to a separate royalty payment. Broadcasters should not be charged for temporary storage files that listeners never hear and which are not saved.
5. All future CARPS must comply with the Regulatory Flexibility Act. This will require CARPs to specifically consider the impact of any decisions on small businesses.

Original Cosponsors of the Internet Radio Fairness Act:

1. Jay Inslee
2. George Nethercutt
3. Rick Boucher
4. Don Manzullo
5. Jim Moran
6. Patsy Mink
7. Rick Larsen
8. Dennis Kucinich
9. Jerry Kleczka
10. Jim Leach
11. Zoe Lofgren

UNITED GROUP OF WEBCASTERS CONDEMN LIBRARIAN'S DECISION
A group of small webcasters have united together to send a letter to Congress asking for legislative action to save their stations from bankruptcy from the performance royalties approved by the Library of Congress.

A growing number of artists and independent labels have signed a letter of support for webcasters in our fight for fair copyright royalties and record keeping requirements.

CLICK HERE to see this letter and those who have signed it in support of our cause.

NOTE: The list above cannot show all links available on this page. Please click on "More Links" to see the full list.

If you would like to contact VOW, please send an email to webmaster@voiceofwebcasters.org.

Archived Files on the Performance Copyright Issue

• PDF format (larger 2 MB file)
• JPG format (smaller file)

Thank you for your support of Internet radio and the Webcasting Industry!