It looks like the high-profile negotiations between the music industry and commercial Internet broadcasters over royalty rates for netcasting traditionally licensed music is moving from the court system to the backroom.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has denied motions to stay any aspect of the ruling by the Copyright Royalty Judges (CRJs) on the new rates webcasters are required to pay recording artists and record labels. The new¬†rates, which are scheduled to go into effect Sunday, effectively force netcasters to shut down or negotiate more favorable deals from SoundExchange, the music industry’s enforcement/collection agency for digital performing rights.

Netcasters like Yahoo!, Live365, Rhapsody and MTV have dramatically portrayed the negotiations as a fight to save Net radio, though the rates only apply to mainstream music industry netcasters. The SoundExchange royalty rates do not apply to netcasters or podcasters that create talk shows or play indie music from artists that license their music for free sharing over the Internet. 

While some are reporting that Online Radio is Saved, it appears that industry negotiations are just moving out of the public eye, putting SoundExchange into a good position to promote the music industry’s interests and influence the future of mainstream Net radio.