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About the New License Agreements The cooperative efforts of CPB, NPR, and PBS have resulted in the execution of licenses with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), SESAC, Inc and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for public broadcasters to distribute music over the Internet. These licenses contain significant confidentiality provisions and reporting obligations. Please read and review the terms of the licenses themselves after you have registered to use this application. The ASCAP, BMI and SESAC licenses apply to both television and radio stations; the RIAA license is only applicable to radio stations. CPB will pay all the license fees of both. Although the attached copies of each license have been redacted to protect the most confidential pricing information, please recognize that the remaining provisions are nonetheless subject to confidentiality restrictions. You may not disclose the terms of either of these licenses to any other party without the consent of CPB, NPR, PBS, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC or the RIAA (as the case may be). The ASCAP, BMI and SESAC License Agreements The ASCAP, BMI and SESAC licenses permit all public broadcasting stations that agree to comply with their terms to distribute the musical works in each society's repertory over the Internet. These licenses are applicable to both television and radio stations. PLEASE READ THE LICENSE AGREEMENTS CAREFULLY. The SESAC internet license is contained within the broader SESAC broadcasting license. We have set forth below the relevant internet provision of the SESAC license. The RIAA License Agreement The RIAA License only applies to radio stations, and it permits all public radio stations that comply with its terms to distribute the sound recordings produced by the labels represented by the RIAA over the Internet. No RIAA license is required for Internet distribution of music that is part of an audiovisual work and the license does not apply to public television stations. The RIAA license contains affirmative reporting requirements with which radio stations must comply in order to benefit from the rights granted by the License. PLEASE REVIEW THESE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS CAREFULLY IN THE RIAA LICENSE AGREEMENT. The license with the RIAA for sound recordings has certain limitations that do not apply to public radio's broadcast licenses or to the ASCAP, BMI or SESAC Internet licenses. These limitations are set out in the federal law that created the compulsory license to distribute sound recordings over the Internet. You must comply with them. First, the Internet service cannot be distributed on a subscription basis. Second, the Internet service cannot be interactive or "on-demand". That means your service cannot allow listeners to select a particular sound recording, whether or not as part of a program. Third, you cannot publish or distribute a program schedule or list of the titles of the specific sound recordings that will be transmitted in advance. Fourth, there are limitations on the number of tracks you can play from the same CD, album or cassette ("CD"), limitations on the number of songs by the same artist, and limitations on how many songs from the same CD or artist can be transmitted consecutively. In any three (3) hour period you can transmit up to three (3) different selections of sound recordings from any one CD, but you can transmit no more than two (2) consecutively. Additionally, in any three (3) hour period you can transmit up to four (4) different selections by the same featured artist, or up to four (4) different selections of sound recordings from any set or compilation of CD's, but you can transmit no more than three (3) consecutively. Fifth, there are restrictions on the webcasting of continuous, looped programs of less than three (3) hours duration and on the number of times that a program may be repeated during a two (2) week period. You can transmit a program that is longer than one (1) hour and that includes performances of sound recordings up to four (4) times in any two (2) week period that have been publicly announced in advance. If the program is less than one (1) hour long, you can transmit the program up to three (3) times in any two (2) week period that have been publicly announced in advance.
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