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Originally Posted by Rick and Roll
Yes Mossy. It may be semantics, but it's what type of revenue that is accepted to me should be the determination. Donation supported stations should get a break.
There's really no such distinction between profit and nonprofit. It's just that's all these people understand, I guess.
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Here's what goo posted in a previous thread:
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Originally Posted by MrMagoo
In summary, first, we determine that the minimum fee applicable to Noncommercial Webcasters is an annual non-refundable, but recoupable* $500 minimum per channel** or station payable in advance. <snip> Second, the following rates apply to Noncommercial Webcasters***: (1) an annual per station or per channel rate of $500 for stations or channels will constitute full payment for digital audio transmissions totaling not more than 159,140 ATH**** per month and (2) if in any month a Noncommercial Webcaster makes digital audio transmissions in excess of 159,140 ATH per month, then the Noncommercial Webcaster will pay additional usage fees for digital audio transmissions of sound recordings in excess of the cap as follows: a per play rate of $.0008 for 2006, a per play rate of $.0011 for 2007, a per play rate of $.0014 for 2008, a per play rate of $.0018 for 2009 and a per play rate of $.0019 for 2010.
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* In effect, payment of the $500 minimum administrative fee by Noncommercial Webcasters whose monthly ATH is below the cap will satisfy the full royalty obligations of such webcasters because it fully encompasses the per station usage fee. <snip> Therefore, as a practical matter, recoupment does not come into play for such webcasters.
** This $500 minimum fee is applicable to each individual station and each individual channel, including each individual "side channel" maintained by broadcasters. "Side channels" are channels on the website of a broadcaster that transmit eligible transmissions that are not simultaneously transmitted over-the-air by the broadcaster.
*** Noncommercial Webcasters include such licensees who are eligible nonsubscription transmission services or new subscription services, irrespective of whether they transmit music in large part or in small part.
**** Aggregate Tuning Hours or ATH refers to the total hours of programming transmitted to all listeners during the relevant time period. <snip> The number of ATH in a month could be calculated by multiplying the average number of simultaneous listeners by the average potential listening hours in a month or 730 (i.e., 365 days in a year multiplied by 24 hours in a day then divided by 12 months).
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The problem with the "non-commercial" definition in the above fee structure is that it's based on some arbitrary number of listeners (namely 218 24/7/365 listeners). It shouldn't be user count based IMHO, that could mean one starts the year at a low rate and then sometime during the year your user count exceeds the threshold and now you're liable for outrageous fees that you can't afford. I guess one could limit the stream count for the station, but that won't work for AM since patrons each get a dedicated 128K stream, so unless the 56/24K streams get reduced each time a patron is added the limit would eventually be exceeded if the user base continues to grow. And at some point there would be no more free streams and the next patron to donate would put you over the limit.
Also notice that the per song fees proposed above arbitrarily increase over time. I guess I could see setting a current fee and then tying that fee to the consumer price index or something, but they more than double it from 2006 to 2010.