Lawmakers introduce Pandora-backed music royalty legislation

A trio of lawmakers introduced legislation aimed at lowering the royalty fees paid by Internet radio stations so they become level with the rates paid by other digital radio services.

Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Jared Polis (D-CO) unveiled the long-awaited Internet Radio Fairness Act, which has received the endorsement of online radio service Pandora. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced a companion measure in the Senate. The three lawmakers argue that Internet radio stations unfairly pay higher royalty rates than satellite and cable radio services do because they're placed on a different royalty-setting rate. They claim that these current royalty rules hamper innovation and discriminate against Internet radio stations. The bill proposes to put online radio services like Pandora on the 801(b) standard of the Copyright Act, which is the same standard used to set the royalty fees paid by cable and satellite radio.