Win, Lose, or Draw?

The music industry scored a victory, while the Internet music industry chalked up a draw, and the radio biz marked one in the loss column after the Copyright Office handed down a decision regarding copyrights and digital music last week. According to the decision, radio stations now must pay royalties to the recording companies if they choose to simulcast their station over the Web, as a good percentage of radio stations currently do. The Copyright Office also decided not to mess with existing legislation in the area of digital rights management, leaving the battle up to the players. So it seems the battle wages on, both in and out of the courtroom, as just last Friday online music site Riffage.com became just another victim of the ongoing battle, closing its doors to prevent litigation and monetary damages.