High school radio stations are used to operating on shoestring budgets. But new webcasting fees leveled by the Librarian of Congress and the U.S. Copyright Office could force many school-sponsored, online radio programs to take their last requests.

In June, the U.S. Copyright Office announced that radio programs that stream copyrighted recordings over the internet must pay royalty fees to musicians and music labels. Although there is a minimum fee of $500 for smaller broadcasters, the fee system is retroactive to 1998. That means many K-12 stations could be asked to pay upwards of $2,000 to maintain their broadcasting rights this year.

The additional fees come as a jolt to proprietors of K-12 radio stations across the nation. eSchool News found broadcasters from Massachusetts to California were surprised to hear school-sponsored webcasts fell under the scope of the ruling.

WAVM (91.7 FM) has been broadcasting out of Maynard High School in Massachusetts since 1973. Today, that station broadcasts on-air and over the web five days a week during the school year. The station enlists more than 150 students to help produce its programming. But its coordinator, Joe Magno, said he had no idea the new royalty fees would apply when WAVM takes to the airwaves Sept. 23.

"This is the first I've heard of anything like this," Magno said. Any additional royalty fees would be a problem for the program, he added.

Magno declined to speculate whether his station would have to terminate its internet broadcasts if it were made to pay additional fees. But the U.S. Copyright Office actions "could potentially have serious consequences," he said.

Michael Jackson, coordinator of radio media studies at Fremont High School in California, said he had heard of the new fees but was under the impression they would have little or no impact on his school's program.

"My understanding is that, as of now, we don't have to pay," Jackson said. "That our liability is minimal."

But that's wishful thinking, according to Susan Grimes, a Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel specialist with the U.S. Copyright Office. K-12 broadcasters are mistaken if they believe the fees do not apply to their schools, she said. Grimes said school-sponsored radio broadcasts are non-commercial entities, or non-CPBs, and they will be expected to pay.

Grimes said the Copyright Office has been inundated with phone calls about the new stipulations since the addendum to the rules was posted to the Federal Register June 20. But she could not say how many calls were received from schools.

Anthony Reece, broadcast director for MediaTech Productions Inc. and the K-12 Radio Network, said the fuss over royalties is more than mere speculation. "Webcasters are going belly-up a dime a dozen," he said.

The new Copyright Office rules say non-commercial radio stations that broadcast over the air and via the web using proper Federal Communications Commission licenses will be charged at the rate of 2 cents per listener for every 100 songs they play. That doesn't include an 8.8 percent fee for the use of ephemeral recordings—temporary copies made to stream music over the internet. But webcasters will have to pay above the $500 minimum only if their total fees exceed this initial payment.