If I have an online radio station broadcasting signed artists music, do I need to pay royalties just like a regular broadcast station?

24 Nov If I have an online radio station broadcasting signed artists music, do I need to pay royalties just like a regular broadcast station?

There are specific laws dealing with how internet radio pays for the use of licensed music, originally outlined by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) passed in 1998. It established rules and guidelines for how much internet radio has to pay. However, at the time that amount was really restrictive. There has been an ongoing debate about it since then, and only as recently as September 2008 did the US Congress pass a law stating that the amount of royalties an internet radio broadcaster has to pay would be based on a percentage of revenue, and January 2009 when that was accepted as official by the US Copyright Royalty Board.