The US Copyright Royalties Board denied a petition from SoundExchange last week for a rehearing on the royalties agreement between the Board and Sirius and XM Satellite Radio.
"SoundExchange has not made a sufficient showing of clear error or manifest injustice with respect to the gross revenues definition or new evidence with respect to the proposed merger that would warrant a rehearing," reads the CRB's ruling. "To the contrary, SoundExchange's arguments in support of a rehearing or reconsideration are based on the same insufficiency of evidence that caused its similar arguments to be rejected by the Judges in fashioning their Initial Determination."
SoundExchange contends that the Copyright Royalties Board exempted too much of XM and Sirius revenues from the equation. Revenue such as merchandising, which XM and Sirius feel they shoudn't have to pay royalties on (understandably). The decision set a royalty base of Sirius and XM's adjusted gross revenue, starting with 6.0% this year and growing to 8.0% by 2012.
But it's that "adjusted" part that SoundExchange had a problem with. Regardless, the CRB didn't agree, stating that SoundsExchange had "no credible evidence" that these forms of additional revenue had a significant impact on the total calculation.
And so the ruling stands.
[CRB Ruling (PDF) via BetaNews]
Thanks Jerry!
SoundExchange is really goingi to be pissed when the merged company structures the monthly fee such that the music portion of the rate is only $6.95 a month, with the rest being excluded from the revenue sharing. The beauty of ala carte pricing.