Web firm Yahoo! has responded negatively to that ruling by the Copyright Tribunal regarding the royalties internet firms should pay songwriters and publishers whose work appears on their streaming music services.
As previously reported, the Tribunal, which ultimately rules on royalty disputes in the UK, earlier this week endorsed the agreement that the publishing royalty society MCPS-PRS reached with various web companies last Autumn after a long running dispute about what songwriters and publishers should be paid. What's more, the copyright body said that those out of court agreements should form the standard framework for online royalties moving forward.
However, three of the biggest web companies - AOL, Real and Yahoo! - never signed up to last Autumn's out of court settlement, claiming that for operations of their size the rates and 'per-stream charge' system being proposed by MCPS-PRS, despite the collecting society having made some concessions, were still unviable. But the Tribunal ruling means, in theory, they will now have to either agree to pay royalties at that rate, or withdraw their music streaming services.
Music Week yesterday quoted a Yahoo! spokesman as saying the Tribunal's decision "undermines a growing and legal industry that provides radio and video services free to UK users", adding: "Consumers may well end up with fewer ways to access digital music legally. Artists and composers stand to lose out on a valuable revenue stream and powerful promotional tool. That's because the costs imposed by these high per-stream minima payments will limit the growth and sustainability of existing music streaming services and create a barrier to entry for new players. We are digesting the Copyright Tribunal's decision and thinking about our next steps".