National copyright organisation Buma/Stemra has announced it will start charging Dutch bloggers for embedded music on 1 January 2010.

People who run a weblog will have to pay 22 euros per video or sound file they embed on their site, irrespective of the number of page views it gets. Buma/Stemra wants these licences to be renewed annually. Any file to which Buma/Stemra holds the music copyrights will be affected, which includes most of the professional music videos currently on the web.

The new rules also apply to podcasts, download sites, streaming audio and online radio and television operating from the Netherlands. Non-commercial, private bloggers who embed music files on their site will also have to comply with the rule, even if the weblog they are publishing does not generate any advertising revenue.

Furious reactions
Weblog writers and Twitterers are reacting furiously to the new regulations. They point out that Buma is only protecting the mainstream artists whose rights it is managing, while independent musicians are generally in favour of being promoted by bloggers through embedded videos and music files.

The cover of the Buma/Stemra Fair Play report (Photo: Buma/Stemra)