RANDY METCALF/Arizona Summer Wildcat Creative writing junior Ash Friederic, left, and music sophomore Joe Theisen pick out a song to be played during their show "Jazz While You Study" last year at the KAMP Student Radio station. KAMP faces new federal rules and fees this year that could make online broadcasting difficult.

Coming federal fees, rules, could force station off the air

KAMP Student Radioās online existence is being challenged by complicated rules and higher fees that are expected to hit college campuses across the nation this fall.

Under proposed fee hikes from the U.S. Copyright Office and pressure from the recording industry to better compensate artists, online-broadcasting ÷ or "webcasting" ÷ radio stations like KAMP would pay more than the current annual fee of $500 for online broadcasting rights.

Beyond the rates set now, KAMP would be required to pay .07 of a cent per listener per song to the artist who performed the song.

Right now, the station pays $500 annually in online fees, but the new rates could triple that, said Mark Woodhams, director of Arizona Student Media

"If we do have to pay those, KAMP would get knocked off the net, if there is no support," Woodhams said.

But Mike Camarillo, broadcast adviser for KAMP, said how the new rates would affect KAMP financially is unclear until the rates are set in stone.

If the fee hikes are small and new broadcast record keeping requirements stay simple, KAMP could play on without much concern in the fall.

A $1 refundable student fee, currently included in tuition and fees, is used for KAMP equipment, consultants and expenses for the station to reach more listeners.

"You can run a radio station with a weak signal in a bathroom, but you need money to grow," Woodhams said.

KAMP Student Radio and the Arizona Summer Wildcat are divisions of Arizona Student Media.

Among other rules, the U.S. Copyright Office currently controls how often KAMP can repeat songs by the same artists within a certain amount of time.

Under the new proposal, the U.S. Copyright Office would require KAMP to record and report all song titles, artists, albums, record labels, catalog numbers, track codes and date and time of transmission.

Thatās a tall order, considering turnover at a college radio station and the sophisticated equipment needed to track all of that information, Camarillo said.

KAMP would also be required to keep a "listener log" to determine the number of listeners per song.

Listener log software costs $70,000 to $100,000.

"Listener software would be a challenge," Camarillo said. "It would be challenging for our organization to come up with the money to cover all of these (costs)."

Will Robedee, general manager of KTRU at Rice University and vice chair of Collegiate Broadcasters, Inc. said the proposed requirements could shut down online college radio stations nationwide if implemented.

"Tracking how many people listen to each and every song will be a significant technological hurdle that most (college radio stations) wonāt be able to overcome," Robedee said.

Online broadcasting fees date back to the 1998 Digital Millenium Copyright Act, which mandates that webcasting radio stations like KAMP must pay fees to the composer in order to broadcast artistsā music.

The Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel, established by the U.S. Copyright Office, recommended adding the new fees last February.

But many small firms and radio stations were excluded from the recommendation process because of money.

"They have to agree to pay the cost of the arbitrators, but the cost is so high, they had no means to pay," Robedee said.

Librarian of Congress James Billington rejected higher proposed rates set by the panel and established new ones last May.

He lowered the .14 cent rate to .07 cents per song per listener.

Robedee is working to get a bill passed with an amendment to protect college and other non-commercial radio stations like KAMP from big fee increases and more extensive record keeping requirements.

Camarillo said he wonāt be really concerned until he knows what the fees and other requirements will be, but that the station has had steady support so far.

"I feel confident that if students continue to want to broadcast, weāll have funding," Camarillo said.

The final rates and rules for online stations ÷ and possibly KAMPās online future ÷ will be determined on Sept. 1.