Foster City, CA - Sep 1, 2009 - Streaming service provider Live365 has raised an inquiry about the Copyright Royalty Board to question the legality of the group's function. Live 365 notes that the RIAA, Sound Exchange, artists, music labels and broadcasters spend millions of dollars on legal fees working with the Copyright Royalty Board each year. Live365 notes that recent opinions by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia have called into question whether the judges of the Copyright Royalty Board were appointed in violation of the U.S. Constitution's separation of powers.

According to a Live365 press release, one appellate judge stated, "Billions of dollars and the fates of entire industries can ride on the Copyright Royalty Board's decisions. The CRB exercises expansive executive authority...unsupervised by the Librarian of Congress or by any other Executive Branch official. This statutory structure raises a serious Constitutional issue."

In preparation for the next wave of CRB royalty-setting actions, Live365 has filed a Federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking an injunction to prevent any further proceedings before the CRB until the Constitutional question is resolved.

"Before any hard-earned artists' royalties and webcaster investments are spent on a potentially invalid royalty setting court, we are just requesting, for the benefit of all parties, to have this significant concern addressed and answered," said Mark Lam, CEO of Live365.