Bates White experts testify before the Copyright Royalty Board on behalf of the National Association of Broadcasters
Crowell & Moring retained Christopher Bennett and Leslie Marx on behalf of the National Association of Broadcasters in Distribution of Cable Royalty Funds for 2014–2017. At issue in the case are nearly $1 billion in royalties collected from cable systems between 2014 and 2017 that the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) must allocate among various television program claimant groups.
Drs. Bennett and Marx provided written and oral testimony to the CRB on behalf of the commercial television claimants. Their testimony largely focused on two areas: the analysis and valuation of programming belonging to the various program claimant categories and the changing structure of the broadcast television market, including the rise of streaming and the potential impact such changes have had on the value of claimants' programming between 2014 and 2017. Ultimately, they provided guidance on an appropriate allocation methodology, including share allocations to the various claimant groups, and they explained why competing proposals were deficient and unreliable.
A decision by the judges is pending.