Register of Copyrights Issues Opinion on Second Novel Question of Law in Pandora Rate Case

Pandora

announced Tuesday, the Register of Copyrights delivered her Memorandum Opinion in response to a "novel material question of law" referred to her on September 11, 2015 by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB). This was the second round of questioning referred to the Register of Copyrights by the CRB in the "Webcasting IV" rate setting proceeding, which will determine rates for the period of 2016-2020. A decision is due in mid-December. The question referred by the Judges asked whether they were prohibited by the governing statutes from setting rates and terms that may differ across different types of categories of licensors – in essence, whether they can set statutory webcasting royalty rates that vary depending on