Joel Willer, ULM assistant professor of mass communications and faculty supervisor of the student-operated radio station KXUL, used his broadcast expertise to testify Aug. 2 before a federal panel in Washington, D.C.

The recording industry has demanded additional royalties from broadcasters when they stream audio over the Internet. Willer represented Collegiate Broadcasters, Inc. (CBI), a nationwide organization representing student-operated electronic media that believes the recording industry is not entitled to those royalties.

His testimony factored into a copyright royalty rate setting trial before the Copyright Royalty Board, a three-judge federal panel within the Library of Congress. The purpose of the proceeding was to establish a statutory copyright royalty rate for the digital performance by all Webcasters of music sound recordings for the years 2006-2010, under terms established by Congress.

This appearance builds on Willer's earlier work on the subject of intellectual property. Among his previous efforts was written testimony on digital music performance issues separately presented to each house of Congress.

Willer has already received national award recognition by CBI and by College Media Advisers for related efforts on behalf of student media.