EON

Boston (EON) – Webcasters are in big trouble as the Internet radio royalty hike seems like it is going to stay its course as an appeals court denied the request for an emergency delay of the royalty hike.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected the request to delay the new Web broadcast fees which were put in place on July 15th.

The Copyright Royalty Board increased royalty payments in march so that the price per stream for one user will go from $0.0008 to $0.0019 by 2010.

The minimum fee is going to be set at $500 per year. The deadline was already extended once from May 15th to July 15th.

Jake Ward, spokesman for SaveNetRadio stated that “We are disappointed that the court failed to acknowledge the irreparable and quite frankly, devastating effect these royalties will have on the Internet radio industry.”