Administration backs song royalties bill

The Obama administration Thursday expressed “strong support” for
legislation that would require radio stations to pay additional royalty
fees to singers, marking the administration’s first public position on
the highly contentious fight between broadcasters and musicians.

In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.),
the Commerce Department’s general counsel called for passage of the
Performance Rights Act to change a provision in the copyright law that
currently exempts broadcasters from paying royalties to performers.
Other broadcaters — including satellite and web radio services — already
pay royalties to singers.

{mosads}Terrestrial broadcasters currently only pay royalties to songwriters.
The National Association of Broadcasters argues that playing songs on
the air provides free promotion for bands and performers. NAB also says
imposing new royalties will worsen the economic hardship faced by
broadcasters hit with declining advertising revenues.

MusicFirst, a coalition of music industry groups and artists, says it
is only fair that broadcasters pay the same royalties as other music
services, especially now that the music industry has changed so much.

The bill “addresses a long-standing ommission in U.S. copyright law
that may have harmed American performers and record companies,” wrote
Cameron Kerry of the Commerce Department. “If enacted, the bill would
advance public welfare by compensating American performers and the
record companies that produce and distribute their creative works.”

“The Obama Administration is the latest, but not the first to support
congressional efforts to close the loophole in copyright law that
allows radio sations to earn billions without compensating the artists,
musicians and rights holders who bring music to life and listeners’
ears to the radio dial,” said Marty Machoswky of MusicFirst.

Dennis Wharton of NAB said he is “disappointed the Commerce Department
would embrace legislation that would kill jobs in the U.S. and send
hundreds of millions of dollars to foreign record labels that have
historically exploited artists whose careers were nurtured by American
radio stations.”