Expiration of GMR Extended Interim License Agreement.
In late December 2016, GMR (Global Music Rights) made available to radio stations an interim license agreement pending the resolution of litigation between GMR and the RMLC, giving stations the opportunity to avoid potential copyright infringement if they played songs in GMR’s repertory. GMR made the interim license available to all radio stations until January 31, 2017—for those stations that opted in, the (initial) term of the interim license was for nine months, commencing January 1, 2017 and ending September 30, 2017. With the RMLC-GMR litigation continuing, GMR has offered multiple times to extend the interim license for additional six-month periods, with the most recent period extending through March 31, 2019. Note that the interim GMR license applies only to commercial radio stations. A separate compulsory license under copyright law generally covers terrestrial broadcasts (but not Internet streaming) for noncommercial radio stations.
