NAB Seeks Postponement in Streaming Fees, Fears ‘Administrative Chaos’

The NAB and several large radio groups are asking Uncle Sam to delay the approaching Oct. 20 deadline for stations to pay streaming fees.
In a letter to the U.S. Copyright Office, the broadcasters argue that the collection of fees should be stayed pending an appeal in a federal circuit court. Without a delay, and if the court later overturns the fees, thousands of stations would suffer “irreparable harm” by having had to calculate and make unnecessary payments, the broadcasters argued.
“Moreover, unless a stay is granted, there is a very real specter of administrative chaos for all parties involved given the inevitable proliferation of refund claims and practically impossible task of tracing royalties that may have been distributed among thousands of copyright owners and performers,” the broadcasters stated.