ASCAP Blanket Fees for YouTube

U.S. v. ASCAP, NYLJ 5/21/2009 "Decision of Interest" (S.D.N.Y. May 13, 2009) (Connor, J.)

Proceeding was before the Court for the setting of interim fees for a blanket license for the public performance of any of the more than two million musical compositions in the repertory of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers ("ASCAP") on the streaming video service provided on the Internet by YouTube, LLC f/k/a YouTube, Inc. ("YouTube").

The Court saw no reason why the basic formula that ASCAP proposed and the Court adopted in United States v. ASCAP in re AOL, RealNetworks and Yahoo! Inc., 562 F. Supp. 2d 413 (S.D.N.Y. 2008) ("In re AOL, et al.") was not equally appropriate in the present context.

It is therefore ordered (1) Within thirty days YouTube shall pay to ASCAP the sum of $1,610,000 for interim fees accrued through March 31, 2009; and (2) Within one week after the end of each calendar month after March 2009 until the determination of final fees in this proceeding, YouTube shall pay to ASCAP the sum of $70,000 for interim fees accruing during that month. These interim fees are subject to retroactive adjustment when final fees are determined.