Broadcasters Worry Radio Royalty Will Be Put in Unrelated Bill
Broadcasters, their lawyers and lobbyists said they worry a performance-royalty obligation may be inserted in critical House legislation this winter or spring. The Performance Rights Act (HR-848), to impose royalties for musicians on terrestrial radio, hasn’t passed either house of Congress. It’s supported by music labels and opposed by broadcasters. Talks between the sides, brokered on Capitol Hill, failed to produce an agreement (WID Nov 19 p3). Broadcasting executives say they fear that supporters of the bill such as House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., and Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., may try new methods.
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Getting a bill through before March would be difficult, a Senate aide said: Next week is a recess, and the Senate is expected to concentrate on a jobs bill when it returns. A draft of the jobs bill circulated among Hill aides and lobbyists this week didn’t include anything on radio performance royalties. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is still working out final details of the bill. There’s been no indication that language on radio performance royalties will be added, the Senate aide said. An aide to Conyers declined to comment.
Another possible vehicle would be a bill to increase the federal debt limit, said a lawyer who represents radio stations but isn’t involved in Hill work on the subject. “I suppose it makes sense for the proponents to try, but it may be hard to do since a majority of the House is on record in opposition, and there would be pressure on the Rules Committee to allow a vote on an amendment to delete the PRA section.” Apart from the jobs bill, “it’s a bit early in the session for must-pass things” since spending bills aren’t usually passed until late summer, he said. The Local Radio Freedom Act (H Con. Res. 49) opposing the royalties has 255 co-sponsors, said an NAB spokesman.
A manager’s amendment to legislation considered must- pass such as a jobs bill is one way that Conyers or others might win approval for the royalty, communications lawyers speculated. The NAB seems concerned about that approach and is taking the lead in coordinating outreach to stations and in lobbying, they said. Some TV stations probably will run NAB-produced ads against the royalties, and radio broadcasters may run spots about TV spectrum, which the FCC is looking to reassign, the group’s spokesman said. “It’s an opportunity for broadcasting to unite behind a common cause of preserving free and local radio and TV.”
“We're obviously watching closely any mischief that threatens the financial ability of free radio,” the NAB representative said. “Any sort of must-pass legislation would pose an opportunity for the RIAA and the record labels, who have made this thing their No. 1 priority.” Conyers seems to view the bill as a way to help labor, said Executive Director David Honig of the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council. Conyers “means well” and “on this one he just happens to be wrong on the merits,” Honig said. “When the strategy is to throw an unrelated item into a must-pass bill, the sponsor of the item knows it doesn’t have enough support to pass the Congress,” he said, speaking generally. “It’s really a way of forcing Congress to adopt something that the majority feels is repugnant.”
“We remain hopeful that the radio industry will work with the music community to create a performance right that is fair to artists, musicians and rights holders, fair to other radio platforms and fair to radio,” said a spokesman for MusicFirst, a coalition that includes the RIAA. “We will also continue to work with members of Congress to move the Performance Rights Act forward.” A spokesman for RIAA didn’t respond to a request for comment. President Rich Bengloff of the American Association of Independent Music said he couldn’t comment right away.
Some radio stations aren’t worried about the prospect of a bill, because they've heard that the resolution opposing performance royalties has the support of most House members, said broadcast lawyer David Oxenford of Davis Wright, who represents radio outlets. “It really depends on the broadcaster,” he said. “There are some broadcasters who are following it very closely and are very concerned that something could be slipped in some legislation -- especially those broadcasters who are familiar with Capitol Hill, where nothing is over until it’s over.”