ASCAP blue after royalty ruling

April 26, 2007 Several sources tell Billboard.biz that a federal court has ruled that there is no performance right for publishers and songwriters in a download. After ASCAP proposed a performance royalty rate that included a fee for downloads, the digital services filed a motion for summary judgment asking Judge William Connor to declare that there is no performance right in a download. The decision, if not reversed on appeal, could detrimentally affect future performance fees as more television shows become available for downloading over the Internet (which would not require payment of a royalty) and less available for re-broadcasts (which would require payment of a royalty).

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