Who does Intermediary represent?
How did the royalties come about?
Who pays retransmission royalties?
Am I entitled to copyright royalties?
How are all these royalty dollars divided among the various claimants?
How does Intermediary collect shares of the royalty distributions?
How does Intermediary distribute the royalties it collects?
Does Intermediary receive a fee?
How do I affiliate with Intermediary?
What is Intermediary?
Intermediary was formed in 2002 as a division of Hammerman, PLLC (a full service communications and copyright law boutique located in Washington, D.C.). Hammerman, PLLC serves as copyright holders' advocate (or "intermediary") before the United States Copyright Office, the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, copyright and intellectual property offices and collectives worldwide to register works, assert claims, and recover royalties due and payable to rights holders for their retransmitted television programming, to claim and audit royalties for musical works from performing rights organizations, and to collect fees for musical works transmitted (web cast or streamed) over the Internet. Intermediary was established as a separate division of the company to consolidate multiple, similar contingency-fee based, and other intellectual property matters.
Who does Intermediary represent?
Intermediary collects retransmission royalties from cable TV operators, satellite companies, performing rights organizations and other entities on behalf of the following content providers:
- Artists
- Commercial Television Producers
- Composers
- Educational Television Producers
- Independent Program Suppliers
- Infomercial Producers
- International Movie Production Companies
- Law Firms
- Manufacturers
- Musicians
- Performers
- Producers of programs aired on PBS
- Professional & Amateur Sports Associations & Leagues
- Religious Broadcasters
- Television Station Ownership Groups
How did the royalties come about?
Since 1978, cable operators and satellite providers in the U.S. are required by statute to pay for the right to retransmit television programming. However, they wanted the license fees for such programming to be set at reasonable levels. They didn't want individual producers to withhold or restrict access to programs contained in their signals. New copyright laws struck a reasonable balance.
Balance was achieved by:
- Defining a "distant signal"
- Requiring the cable operators and satellite companies to pay royalties
- Giving the Licensing Division of the Copyright Office the power to determine the amount of the royalty payments
- Giving the claimants and their representatives the ability to divide the royalties collected among themselves or by resolving disputes through the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel
Similar compensation methods are provided in Australia, Canada, Europe, and Japan.
Who pays retransmission royalties?
According to the Copyright Act, anyone who legally retransmits a "distant
signal" is required to pay royalties to the owners of the programming
contained within that transmission. Companies that "retransmit"
such signals are usually cable television operators and direct-to-home
satellite television providers. Other media providers, such as webcasters,
will be subject to similar requirements.
What is a distant signal?
A "distant signal" is a broadcast signal you cannot receive
off the air (with a "rabbit ear" antenna) because you're too
far away from where the signal originates. Expressed another way, a local
signal can be defined as one that is within a radius of between 40 and
60 miles of a transmitting antenna broadcast depending on its transmitter's
strength.
Distant signals originate as over-the-air signals and then are picked
up and retransmitted as part of the retransmitter's basic programming
package (like basic cable). That means that programming that originates
on specialty and pay television services (like Discovery, ESPN, and TBN)
does not generate retransmission royalties.
Am I entitled to copyright royalties?
You have the right to receive retransmission royalties for television
programming if all of the following are true:
1. You own the copyright in a program or someone else who owns the copyright
in a particular program has explicitly and by contract assigned to you
(for instance you may be a distributor or syndicator the right to collect
royalties for them); and
2. Your rights apply in the United States, Canada, Australia, Europe,
or Japan; and
3. Your particular program has been broadcast on a signal which has then
been retransmitted; and
4. You have not assigned the right to collect retransmission royalties
to anyone else, (such as through a license or distribution agreement).
How much money is involved?
The U.S. Copyright Office sets the amount of the retransmission royalties
that are paid to all television copyright owners. It's a considerable
sum. In 2001, the royalty rates resulted in over $188 million collected
for program owners. Approximately $100 million was collected for cable
retransmissions, and about $88 million was collected for satellite retransmission.
Smaller amounts are collected annually in Australia, Canada and across
Europe.
How are all these royalties divided among the various claimants?
The U.S. Copyright Office allows the claimants to establish their own
claimants' groups, which are formed by claimants with similar programming
interests (for example: religious broadcasters, or professional sports
leagues). After the groups negotiate and agree to settle their shares
of the annual distribution, representatives for each claimant negotiate
their individual portions of that amount.
In simpler terms, royalties are divided like pieces of a pie. First, each group of claimants gets a piece. Then individual claimants in each group receive slivers of their group's piece. Typical distribution formulas are based on average household television audience ratings for the programs shown on distant signals, and on the number of subscribers who actually receive those distant signals through their cable or satellite company. Each year this method of allocation is reviewed and at times renegotiated.
How does Intermediary collect shares of the royalty distributions?
Each year we file claims for our clients around the world. Then, we negotiate
royalty distributions on behalf of our clients. We help to determine each
group's share and help to distribute each claimant's portion of that share.
How does Intermediary distribute the royalties it collects?
Within days of each distribution, checks are forwarded directly to our
clients.
Does Intermediary receive a fee?
Yes. Fees are paid by contingency fee arrangement. We collect a direct
percentage of the royalties collected. We only are compensated if and
when our clients receive royalty distributions.
How do I affiliate with Intermediary?
If you think you fit into one of the categories of copyright holders that
we represent, contact us. After a thorough review and analysis of your
information, and a conflicts check, we will ask you to sign an engagement
letter and provide us with a list of programming for which you're entitled
to receive royalties. Once we've entered that information into our database,
we'll match your programs with the data we track, file claims on your
behalf, and ensure that your share of royalties is collected and paid
upon distribution.
top
Have we helped?
We hope we've made the regime of retransmission and additional copyright
royalties clearer. We also hope we've anticipated most of your questions
and convinced you that affiliating with Intermediary as a copyright holder
is one of the smartest choices you can make.
If you have
more questions,
Please contact:
Edward S. Hammerman, Esq.
Managing Member
Intermediary Copyright Royalty Services
a division of Hammerman, PLLC
5335 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W.
Suite 440
Washington, D.C. 20015
| Tel: | 202-686-2887 |
| Fax: | 202-318-5633 |
