DiMA Opposes ASCAP Demand for Double-Dip Royalties

Washington, D.C. (8/17/09) – The Digital Media Association (DiMA) and five additional entertainment producer and distributor associations today registered their opposition to a continuing demand by ASCAP for “public performance” royalties in association with digital downloads of sound recordings.

In an amicus brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the six associations asked the court to affirm a lower court’s decision that digital downloads of music are not public performances, and that as a result RealNetworks and Yahoo! do not owe royalties to ASCAP when they digitally download entertainment content to consumers.

Joining DiMA in this brief are the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM), the Entertainment Marketing Association (EMA), and the Independent Film and Television Alliance (IFTA).

“Innovative content producers and distributors are joining together today in an effort to halt ASCAP’s overreaching demand for undeserved royalties,” said DiMA Executive Director Jonathan Potter.  “Songwriters and music publishers are paid fairly and fully for digital downloads when reproduction rights and distribution rights are licensed.  There is simply no justification for characterizing downloads as performances or for demanding additional royalties, which is why ASCAP’s persistent efforts have been rejected so many times by U.S. Government agencies and the district court in this case.”