While the news media remains in a frenzy over the royal birth, the news from London isn’t all bonnets and booties. The British royalty collections agency PPL has begun contacting U.S. broadcast groups demanding they either begin paying royalties or block webcasts from reaching the ears of U.K. listeners.

The six-sentence letter points out that radio groups such as Clear Channel and Emmis already geo-block their webcasts. PPL spokesman Jonathan Morrish says others, including CBS Radio and Pandora, have made similar moves. So far, Morrish says no broadcaster has approached them for a license. “They have to date made the decision to instead geo-block their streams so that they are not available in the U.K.,” he says. PPL has had a few pureplay operators obtain a license however, including Live365. So far only the big radio groups have received the letter, but Morrish says they plan to send them to more American broadcasters as part of a broader PPL project. Similar to how SoundExchange calculates fees in the U.S., PPL bases its fees on a per-track-per-stream rate.

While SoundExchange has pushed for elimination of the on-air royalty exemption, Morrish says PPL reaching out to U.S. broadcasters is not a “joint project” with its American counterparts. “We are instead merely ensuring that services that are streaming in the UK are correctly licensed,” he says. PPL and SoundExchange do have a reciprocal agreement, but Morrish says they aren’t collecting any money to cover British listening. “Any overspill received outside the U.S. would not therefore be covered by the U.S. statutory license and instead separate licensing arrangements would need to be made,” he says.

For radio groups, it highlights the need to strip out any foreign listening figures from the webcast listening data supplied to SoundExchange. The National Association of Broadcasters had no comment on the PPL’s request. It’s gearing up for a new round of streaming royalty negotiations with SoundExchange.

Radio executives are taking a close look at their options after learning that the British royalty collections agency wants them to pay for station streams that reach listeners in the U.K. One says striking a deal with PPL could set a precedent and open the door to rights organizations from around the world coming after U.S. broadcasters. Cox Media Group is one of the groups that received the PPL request. Director of digital strategy Sandhi Kozsuch says the company hasn’t responded either way so far, and notes that while 30% of web listening comes from out-of-market users, a “much smaller” percentage is international. Kozsuch thinks many groups will probably geo-limit regardless, due to recent changes to Arbitron out-of-market simulcast rules to accommodate advertisers. “I think it’s going to be sort of a moot point,” he predicts.

A few radio groups are still trying to determine how to service U.S. military members and their families overseas, an exception they feel is important enough to spend time and resources to figure out. When Saga said earlier this year it would start blocking listeners not located in a station’s coverage area, it specifically said they wouldn’t touch rocker “FM 99” WNOR, Norfolk which many service members take with them when they go overseas for a taste of life back home.