D.C. To Biz: Work Out Your Own Web Licensing Plan

Federal lawmakers told a music industry panel yesterday that they favor continued private sector negotiations to solve Internet music licensing problems rather than a government-mandated compulsory license.

They also sai d they may urge the Copyright Office to offer a temporary licensing "safe harbor" to labels and online music companies to shield them from music publisher lawsuits so the fledgling industry can continue growing while the office determines the outcome of t he licensing situation.

"I'm not telling you, but I'm suggesting to you," said Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C., "that you continue your negotiations in a woodshed or around a dining room table." Coble, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property, added that "in my experience, when a third party stirs the pot, the results are often less-than-satisfactory."

Members of the Digital Media Assn., includin g Rob Glaser, chairman/CEO of RealNetworks, Inc., who testified, have urged Congress to create a permanent compulsory license to facilitate quicker licensing. The National Music Publishers Assn. (NMPA) and the performing rights organizations oppose the m o ve, saying works would be devalued. NMPA representative/songwriter Mike Stoller and ASCAP singer-songwriter Lyle Lovett told lawmakers yesterday they oppose the compulsory license.

MP3.com president Robin Richa rds, who has endorsed the safe harbor, told Bulletin that Glaser's planned roll-out of RealNetwork's MusicNet, a subscription service being developed in partnership with EMI, BMG and AOL Time Warner, "will be nearly impossible."

Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., said he believes legislation may be necessary in other areas to modify sections of the current law which hamper e-businesses. ;