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FEES THREATEN WRGW
Monday September 9th, 2002:
As WRGW began a new semester, possible legislation pending in The House and Senate Judiciary Committees could force WRGW to pay thousands of dollars in royalty fees. The new fees, retroactive to 1998 when the Digital Millennium Act took affect, would be applicable to all non-commercial radio stations that broadcast online. Fees would be charged at one-hundredth of a cent per song, per listener. WRGW's General Manager Brett Kaplan said that these fees would be "impossible" for WRGW to pay, noting that the fees seem small but add up quickly for a small station like WRGW.
Even as programming continued, Kaplan and WRGW were forced to examine with Mike Ludwig and Vice President for Communications Mike Freedman other avenues of broadcasting for WRGW. Popular talk and sports programming could continue.
Similar college stations faced this crisis and many took to the US Court of Appeals to fight the legislation. Calling for the fees and the large amounts of paperwork for music logging to track the songs played to be cancelled, WRGW was not alone. As programming continued, the WRGW was aware that the last few days of internet radio at WRGW could soon be coming to an end.
-Investigated by WRGW staff comprised from the GW Hatchet's Archives