Internet radio stations reach deal to head off crippling increase in copyright royalty rates -- chicagotribune.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — The future of Internet radio appears more secure after a handful of online stations reached an agreement Tuesday to head off a potentially crippling increase in copyright royalty rates.

The deal is the product of two years of negotiations between webcasters and copyright holders. In March 2007, a ruling by the federal Copyright Royalty Board dramatically raised the rates that Internet radio stations must pay artists and recording labels — leading many online radio stations to warn that the new rates would put them out of business by eating up as much as 70 percent of revenue...