Hundreds of Internet radio stations got a reprieve Tuesday when the librarian of Congress rejected suggested royalty rates that the stations said would bankrupt them.
Librarian James H. Billington, who oversees copyrights, did not explain his reasons in his terse order. His office is scheduled to devise an alternative rate by June 20.
Under the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the librarian was required to set up a structure for Internet radio stations, or webcasters, to pay royalties to the performers of the music they play. Conventional radio does not pay such rates under the theory that airplay there adds promotional value.
An arbitration panel in February recommended that webcasters should generally pay $.0014 per listener per song. That finding led to intense lobbying, with representatives of the recording industry saying they deserved compensation while Internet radio officials saying the figure would outstrip total revenues in the infant industry.