Last week, we discussed the controversy started by Neil Young removing his music from Spotify because of its carriage of Joe Rogan’s podcast. In that article, we looked at the relationship between music royalties and the decision of Spotify and other music services to emphasize podcasts and other talk programming over music. Today, we will… Continue Reading…
Controversial Super Bowl Political Ads on Local Stations – Why They Can’t Be Pulled
Ads planned to run in yesterday’s Super Bowl by Republican candidates in primaries to select candidates for 2022 senate elections drew comments and controversy even before the game, with some calls to block the ads from the air. Ads for a candidate in Pennsylvania used the “Let’s Go Brandon” language generally acknowledged to be an… Continue Reading…
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: February 5, 2022 to February 11, 2022
Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the last week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. Global Music Rights (GMR) and the Radio Music Licensing Committee (RMLC) announced that enough broadcasters had agreed to GMR licensing… Continue Reading…
Spotify, Joe Rogan and Neil Young – Looking at the Rights and Royalty Issues Behind the Story (Part 1 – Why Spotify Has Been Promoting More Podcasts)
The last two weeks have been filled with stories about Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and other artists pulling their music from Spotify in protest of its carriage of the Joe Rogan podcast. While the political statements made by these actions generate the news, there are rights and royalty issues behind the story that are worth… Continue Reading…
GMR and RMLC Announce that Radio Royalty Settlement is Effective – Gives Commercial Radio Stations One Last Chance to Join Licensing Agreement by March 31
In a press release issued today, the Radio Music License Committee (RMLC) and performing rights organization Global Music Rights (GMR) announced that enough commercial radio stations signed the GMR licensing agreement to allow the settlement of the RMLC/GMR litigation to become effective. As we wrote when the settlement was announced early last month, enough radio… Continue Reading…
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: January 29, 2022 to February 4, 2022
Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the last week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced several leadership changes at the FCC. The changes include a new head of the Media… Continue Reading…
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: January 22, 2022 to January 28, 2022
Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the last week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. The FCC adopted two items of interest to broadcasters that were on the agenda for its January 27 Open Meeting…. Continue Reading…
FCC Gives Additional Guidance For Filings that Had Been Made in the CDBS Filing System
As we noted two weeks ago, the FCC has stopped accepting new filings through its CDBS database. This week, the FCC released a Public Notice which provides further details on how filings that were made in CDBS should now be submitted. As we noted when the announcement of the end of submissions to the database… Continue Reading…
FCC Follow Up to Stations that Did Not File Biennial Ownership Reports Last December – Fines to Follow?
The FCC sent out a flurry of reminders to broadcasters who did not file their Biennial Ownership Reports by the December 1, 2021 deadline. As we wrote in our reminder in November, these reports were to be filed by licensees of all full-power radio and TV stations (commercial and noncommercial), as well as by LPTV… Continue Reading…
February Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters: Children’s TV Reporting, License Renewals, EEO Filings, FCC Proceedings, and More
Before we jump into February dates, let’s take a look at some important dates still to come in January. Noncommercial radio applicants whose applications were found to be mutually exclusive (MX) with one or more other applications filed in the reserved band window have through January 28 to submit technical amendments or work with others in their MX group… Continue Reading…
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: January 15, 2022 to January 21, 2022
Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the last week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. The FCC issued a Public Notice urging all communications companies to take steps to ensure the security of their facilities… Continue Reading…
Hot Topic for 2022: Tech Regulation
My law firm partner, Jonathan Cohen, has been closely monitoring the developments in the regulation of social media and other big tech platforms by the current administration. He offers these thoughts on likely areas of legislative and regulatory action in this area in the coming year. Many nights, the last thing I do before falling… Continue Reading…
