Distribution of the 2004 and 2005 Cable Royalty Funds (Docket No. 2007-3 CRB CD 2004-2005)

The trial to determine the Phase I distribution of 2004 and 2005 royalties collected under the cable statutory license will begin on Tuesday, October 6, 2009, and will be held in Room LM-408 in the James Madison Memorial Building of the Library of Congress, 101 Independence Avenue, S.E., Washington, D.C.  The direct phase of the case will take place October 6, 2009, through October 20, 2009.

Each year, semiannually, cable systems must submit royalty payments to the Copyright Office as required by the cable statutory license for the privilege of retransmitting over-the-air television and radio broadcast signals.  These royalties are then distributed to copyright owners whose works were included in such retransmissions and who timely filed a claim for royalties.  Distribution of the royalties occur in two phases.  At Phase I, the royalties are divided among the representatives of the major categories of copyrightable content (movies, sports programming, music, etc.).  At Phase II, the royalties are divided among the various copyright owners within each category.  As noted above, the trial is for the Phase I distribution of cable royalties paid for the years 2004 and 2005.

The parties presenting testimony in this proceeding are the Settling Parties (comprised of the Joint Sports Claimants, Commercial Television Claimants, Public Television Claimants and Music Claimants), Program Suppliers, Devotional Claimants and the Canadian Claimants Group. Each party will present its opening statement immediately prior to the presentation of their respective direct case.

The Settling Parties will present their opening statement and direct case followed by (in order) the Canadian Claimants Group, the Devotional Claimants and the Program Suppliers.
 
The following is the current schedule for the proceeding:

October 6:       Opening Statement of Settling Parties.

Witnesses of the Settling Parties (appearing in the following order after the completion of the Settling Parties’ Opening Statement):

James M. Trautman, Dr. Robert W. Crandall, Judith Meyka, Linda McLaughlin, Dr. Richard V. Ducey, Dr. Joel Waldfogel, Jerald N. Fritz, Seth Saltzman, Michael O’Neill, William P. Zarakas

Witnesses of the Canadian Claimants Group (to begin upon conclusion of the Settling Parties’ Direct Case and the Opening Statement of the Canadian Claimants Group):

Janice de Freitas and Dr. Debra Ringold

Witnesses of the Devotional Claimants (to begin upon conclusion of the Canadian Claimants Group’s Direct Case and the Opening Statement of the Devotional Claimants):

Dr. William Brown and Dr. Michael Salinger

Witnesses of the Program Suppliers (to begin upon conclusion of the Devotional Claimants’ Direct Case and the Opening Statement of the Program Suppliers):

Marsha E. Kessler, John Mansell, Howard Homonoff, Dr. Arthur C. Gruen, Paul Lindstrom, Bruce Hoynoski and Dr. George S. Ford

The trial takes place starting on Tuesday, October 6, 2009, and takes place each Monday through Thursday thereafter (except October 12, which is a federal holiday) through Tuesday, October 20, 2009.

Further refinements to the schedule will be announced during the trial.  The website will be updated as needed.  However, anyone with questions regarding changes in the schedule should contact the Copyright Royalty Board at 202-707-7658.