Alixandra Steier, Director, Broadcaster Relations for the Television Music License Committee, LLC (TMLC), and TMLC Executive Director Will Hoyt will discuss local television stations’ recent settlement agreement with SESAC during a Distance Learning Seminar from MFM – the Media Financial Management Association – to be held on Thursday, December 11 from 3:30-4:45 p.m. EST. In addition, the teleseminar will cover two new alternative licenses available to local television stations, the BMI Adjustable Fee Blanket License (AFBL) and the ASCAP AFBL, which have the potential to lower their music licensing payments
The settlement agreement in the SESAC Antitrust suit was recently filed in U.S. District Court in New York. If approved by the Court, the Settlement will resolve a case brought against SESAC in 2009 by three station groups, Meredith, Scripps and Hoak (now part of Gray Television), as a class action on behalf of local television stations. The suit asserted that, since 2008, when the last industry-wide agreement with SESAC expired, SESAC violated federal antitrust laws, resulting in overcharges to stations which were forced to accept SESAC’s terms or risk being sued for copyright infringement. The settlement with SESAC avoids further expense and the uncertain outcome of a trial and possible appeals. This CPE (continuing professional education) Distance Learning Seminar will provide highlights and details of the agreement and how stations’ future license fees will be impacted under the new agreement.
“Settlement of the case against SESAC follows the TMLC’s success in securing new music licensing agreements with BMI and ASCAP,” said Mary M. Collins, President and CEO of MFM and its BCCA subsidiary. “Now that the uncertainly has been lifted through the settlement agreement with SESAC, financial managers for the country’s television stations will be able to accurately accrue for their music license payments in the coming year.”
Registered participants for the teleseminar who are interested in fulfilling continuing education requirements will be eligible to receive up to 1.5 CPE credits toward their certified public accounting (CPA) license. MFM is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA).
The registration fee for the teleseminar is $74 for individual members of the Association, $59.00 for corporate members and $94 for non-members. An additional $20 late fee will be charged for registrations made after December 9. MFM is also offering package discounts for anyone registering for two or more upcoming Distance Learning Seminars. Additional information and an online registration form may be found on MFM’s Web site, at http://www.mediafinance.org.
About MFM and BCCA: Media Financial Management Association (MFM) is the premiere resource for financial professionals for media industry education, networking, and information sharing throughout the U.S. and Canada. More information about MFM is available on its Web site: http://www.mediafinance.org. Its BCCA subsidiary serves as the media industry’s credit association. BCCA’s revenue management services include a variety of credit reports on national and local media advertisers and EMCAPP - the Electronic Media Credit Application. More information about BCCA and EMCAPP is available at http://www.bccacredit.com and www.emcapp.com.
