F.A.M.E.—Friends Against Musical Exploitation
Senate Judiciary Committee Okays Performance Rights Act
Bill will compensate artists and musicians for radio play
Washington, D.C., October 15, 2009 – Today the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the Performance Rights Act (S. 379). The bill will close a loophole in copyright law that allows music radio stations to earn billions of dollars each year in ad revenue without compensating the artists, musicians and rights holders who bring music to life and listeners’ ears to the radio dial. A similar bill, H.R. 848, was approved earlier by the House Judiciary Committee. The following statement may be attributed to Jennifer Bendall, executive director of the musicFIRST Coalition:
“Today we are one step closer to righting a wrong that has existed since the early days of radio; one step closer to winning the fight for fundamental justice that has been waged by countless artists and musicians over the last 80 years.”
“We are grateful for the leadership of Chairman Leahy, Senators Feinstein and Hatch and other members of the committee. We look forward to working with them and Chairman Conyers, Representatives Issa and Berman and other members who understand the importance of creating a fair performance right on radio for America’s artists and musicians.”
“We are making unprecedented progress. Two congressional committees have now approved a bill to create a fair performance right on radio. We ask broadcasters and the new leadership at the NAB to join with us. Together we can create a performance right on radio that is fair to artists, musicians and rights holders, fair to other radio platforms that pay a performance royalty, and fair to AM and FM music radio.”
“Radio and music have a bright future together if the artists, musicians and rights holders who bring music to life and listeners’ ears to the radio dial are compensated fairly for their work.”
John Henkel
Director of Artist Relations
musicFIRST Coalition
Townhall Members
Mary with Neil Diamond
Performance Rights Bill Update
May 13th, 2009
Last week the “Performance Rights Act” took its first step and passed the House Judiciary Committee by a vote of (21 yes - 9 no).
Thanks to those of you that took time to email your support thru the Music FIRST website and all of you who contacted your Members of Congress during the Call to Action Day on Monday May 4th. We can never underestimate the importance of each and every contact we make to our Senators and Representatives in support of the Performance Rights Act.
The Performance Rights Act though is not yet a law. This is the just first step. Next, we go to the Senate.
We applaud Chairman John Conyers for his courage in standing down the broadcast owners who have been showing their opposition in Detroit. This opposition comes from small and minority owned radio stations stating the Act would be burdensome on them financially however they are only being asked to do what radio on cable, satellite and Internet radio already do – pay the singer for their talent.
It’s simply a matter of fair play for airplay.
The US House proposal is follows:
| Radio Station Gross | Profits Fee Per Year |
|---|---|
| $500,000. to 1.25 mil | $5,000 per year (about $420 per month for all music play for whole year._) |
| 100,000 to 500,000 | $2,500 per year |
| $100,000 and below | $500 per year. (less than $50 per month.) |
| (Depending on the gross profits – that’s often 1% or less A YEAR of Gross Profits) | |
Below is a recent article from the Detroit News regarding the Detroit area response to the bill passing thru the Judiciary Committee.
A big thanks to AFTRA Martha Reeves, in her capacity as a member of the Detroit City Council, who fought off an attempt by local minority owned radio stations and the Michigan Broadcast Association to pass a resolution against performance rights. Read excerpt from article below:
Radio-fees bill passes committee as stations stage protest
By Deb Price
The Detroit News
May 13, 2009
.......The Detroit City Council also weighed in, discussing a resolution Tuesday that supports the arguments made by black radio stations. The resolution, introduced by Kwame Kenyatta and JoAnn Watson, failed and was referred to an entertainment committee.
"Many of our artists haven't gotten their due, but it should be the record companies, not the stations, who should pay," said Watson, who has hosted the "Hello Detroit" radio show for more than 20 years. "(Small) black-owned stations will go out of business. They will close the stations down, I'm telling you."
But Councilwoman Martha Reeves said she wants to be fairly compensated. Reeves, of Motown fame, said she's a part of a group of about 300 artists who helped initiate Conyers' bill. She added during Tuesday's session that stations in other countries such as England pay the artists, and it should be the same in the United States.
"The artists whose records that are being played, they should be paid," Reeves said. "I'm representing my career and legacy. We've had music played for 40 years, and we're not being paid for it. America should step up to the plate and be responsible. We deserve this money."