§ 383.3 Royalty fees for public performances of sound recordings and the making of ephemeral recordings.

(a) Royalty rates. Royalty rates for the public performance of sound recordings by eligible digital transmissions made over a Service pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 114, and for ephemeral recordings of sound recordings made pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 112(e) to facilitate such transmissions during the License Period, are as follows. For 2026, each Licensee will pay, with respect to content covered by the License that is provided via the Service of each such Licensee: (1) For Stand-Alone Contracts, a monthly payment of $0.0241 per Subscriber to the Service of such Licensee, which is equivalent to the 2025 royalty rate of $0.0234, as adjusted by the annual royalty fee adjustment in paragraph (b) of this section. (2) For Bundled Contracts, a monthly payment of $0.0401 per Subscriber to the Service of such Licensee, which is equivalent to the 2025 royalty rate of $0.0390, as adjusted by the annual royalty fee adjustment in paragraph (b) of this section. (b) Annual royalty fee adjustment. (1) The Copyright Royalty Judges shall adjust the royalty fees each year, as described in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, beginning with the fees for 2026, to reflect any changes occurring in the cost of living as determined by the most recent Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (U.S. City Average, all items) (CPI-U) published by the Secretary of Labor before December 1 of the preceding year. (2)(i) The calculation of the rate for each year shall be cumulative based on a calculation of the percentage increase in the CPI-U from the CPI-U published in November 2024 (CPI-U%) and shall be made according to the following formulas: (A) For Stand-Alone Contracts, (1 + (Cy−315.664)/315.664) × $0.0234; and (B) For Bundled Contracts, (1 + (Cy−315.664)/315.664) × $0.0390; and (ii) For both formulas Cy is the CPI-U published by the Secretary of Labor before December 1 of the preceding year. The adjusted rate shall be rounded to the nearest fourth decimal place. (3) The Judges shall publish notice of the adjusted fees in the Federal Register at least 25 days before January 1 of each year of the License Period. The adjusted fees shall be effective on January 1 of each year of the License Period for such year. (c) Minimum fee. Each Licensee will pay an annual, non-refundable minimum fee of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), payable on January 31 of each calendar year in which the Service is provided pursuant to statutory licenses under 17 U.S.C. 112(e) and 114. Such fee shall be recoupable and credited against royalties due in the calendar year for which the payment is made. (d) Allocation between ephemeral recordings fees and performance royalty fees. The Collective must credit 5% of all royalty payments as royalty payment for Ephemeral Recordings and credit the remaining 95% to royalties under 17 U.S.C. 114. All Ephemeral Recordings that a Licensee makes which are necessary and commercially reasonable for making noninteractive digital transmissions through a Service are included in the 5%.