Overview
Changes in technology are transforming the media industry, creating challenges for the determination of appropriate royalty rates and royalty distributions.
Bates White is at the forefront of working toward solutions. Our team has experience supporting media content and service providers in royalty rate-setting and distribution proceedings, including before federal courts, the Copyright Royalty Board, and the Canadian Copyright Board.
Selected Work
- Provided written and oral testimony to the Copyright Royalty Board on behalf of the National Association of Broadcasters in Distribution of Cable Royalty Funds for 2014–2017. At issue was nearly $1 billion in royalties collected from cable systems between 2014 and 2017 that the Copyright Royalty Board must allocate among various television program claimant groups.
- Testified before the Copyright Royalty Board on behalf of the National Association of Broadcasters as part of a proceeding to determine the appropriate allocation of royalties that cable systems paid between 2010 and 2013 for their retransmission of distant broadcast television signals.
- Provided expert testimony on behalf of Stingray Digital in its litigation with the Canadian Copyright Board involving performing rights royalties for pay audio services payable for musical works and sound recordings.
- In In re Determination of Rates and Terms for Making and Distributing Phonorecords, provided written and deposition testimony on behalf of Spotify USA Inc. regarding royalty payments under Section 115 of the Copyright Act.
- On behalf of Sirius XM, testified before the Copyright Royalty Board in the Determination of Royalty Rates and Terms for Transmission of Sound Recordings by Satellite Radio and “Preexisting” Subscription Services proceeding.
- Submitted testimony to the Copyright Royalty Board on behalf of National Public Radio, Inc. and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as part of the Webcasters IV proceeding to determine webcaster royalties for the digital performance rights in sound recordings and ephemeral recordings.
- In the matter In re Petition of Pandora Media, Inc., supported the expert analyses, reports, and testimony of Dr. Leslie Marx on behalf of Pandora in its litigation with the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP).
- Provided trial testimony on behalf of Pandora in its litigation with Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) regarding the royalty rate for Pandora’s use of music licensed by BMI (Broad. Music, Inc. v. Pandora Media, Inc.).
- On behalf of Pandora, provided analysis regarding DOJ’s review of the consent decrees issued in Broad. Music, Inc. (BMI) v. Pandora Media, Inc. and In re Petition of Pandora Media, Inc.
- Testified on behalf of Music Choice before the Copyright Royalty Board of the US Library of Congress on the appropriate royalty for digital performance rights in sound recordings.