A webcasting service that provides users with individualized Internet radio stations is not required to pay licensing fees to copyright holders of the songs the service plays, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled on Friday.
The circuit found that as a matter of law the service that provides the stations, in which content is affected by customers’ ratings of titles, artists and albums, is not “interactive” enough to impose the fees. Instead, it is only required to pay a statutory licensing fee as set by the Copyright Royalty Board.
