Yahoo need not pay webcasting fees, rules US court

To pay statutory licensing fee set by the Copyright Royalty Board

A federal appeals court in New York has ruled in favour of Yahoo's Launchcast site. The court ruled that Yahoo Internet radio service need not pay fees to copyright holders of songs it plays on its webcasting service.

Sony, which holds labels such as Arista Records, Bad Boy Records, Zomba, brought suit against Launch Media alleging that it had failed to obtain licenses for the songs it plays.

Yahoo's Launchcast is an internet radio website, or 'webcasting' service, which enables a user to create 'stations' that play songs that are within a particular genre or similar to a particular artist or song a user selects.

The US Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a 2007 Jury verdict that Launchcast is not an interactive service as a matter of law and therefore not liable for paying the fees. The court said that Launchcast, a webcasting service must only pay a statutory licensing fee set by the Copyright Royalty Board.

According to the Wall Street Journal, in a three-judge panel's decision, the US Circuit Judge Richard Wesley noted that the level of predictability and of an individual user's control over the songs played are key factors in determining whether similar webcasts are interactive listening services as defined by the Congress.

Wesley added: Indeed, the unique nature of the playlist helps Launch ensure that it does not provide a service so specially created for the user that the user ceases to purchase music.

“Launchcast listeners do not even enjoy the limited predictability that once graced the AM airwaves on weekends in America when 'special requests' represented love-struck adolescents' attempts to communicate their feelings to 'that special friend'.

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