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By Andrew Noyes
© National Journal Group, Inc.
A months-long lobbying blitz surrounding the music industry's push to eliminate an exemption granted to over-the-air radio stations, which allows them to broadcast music without paying royalties, ramped up Monday as broadcasters from around the country arrived in Washington for their annual leadership conference.
At the three-day event, hundreds of National Association of Broadcasters members will hear from policymakers and meet with legislators to discuss issues affecting broadcasters. The trade group has fought the music industry's push, characterizing it as a tax on local stations.
Under copyright law, Webcasters, satellite radio services and cable companies pay artists for use of their sound recordings, but over-the-air radio does not. Musicians have not earned performance royalties for traditional radio on the basis that analog transmissions do not constitute duplications. Senate Judiciary Chairman Leahy and House Judiciary Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chairman Howard Berman, D-Calif., have introduced bills to eliminate the exemption.
The musicFIRST Coalition, which is led by the Recording Industry Association of America and royalty collector SoundExchange, is running print advertisements to coincide with the NAB meeting. The ad claims that street musicians who receive pocket change from passersby make more than performers when their music is on AM or FM radio.
"It's time for the NAB and corporate radio to answer the tough questions about their refusal to pay artists and musicians," Coalition Executive Director Doyle Bartlett said. He said stations earn $16 billion annually in advertising revenue, but none of that goes to the artists.
"We welcome the debate over which side has been more 'fair' to artists -- radio stations or RIAA-member companies," NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton said, noting that radio stations promote musicians to 232 million listeners every week. "Contrast that with decades-long exploitation of artists by foreign-owned record labels," he said.
Last week, a briefing on the topic organized by the Future of American Media Caucus drew a modest crowd of staffers -- and a Motown legend. Speakers at the closed-door event included representatives from the Congressional Research Service, NAB, SoundExchange and Mary Wilson, a former member of The Supremes who belted out a few bars of "Stop! In The Name Of Love."
This week, about 600 broadcasters will canvass Capitol Hill to drum up opposition to the royalty change and other topics, including the forthcoming conversion to digital television.
Meanwhile, on another intellectual property-related battle front, a Senate floor debate over legislation to overhaul the U.S. patent system will likely be pushed back until after the Easter recess, a spokesman for Majority Leader Reid said Monday.
Indian health, housing, consumer product safety and budgetary issues have delayed consideration of the bill, the aide said, adding that Reid hopes to "get to it early in [the] next work period," after the two-week Easter recess from March 15-30.
The bill, backed by major high-tech firms but panned by pharmaceutical and biotechnology interests, was introduced by Leahy in April and was placed on the Senate legislative calendar in January. A companion bill passed the House in September.
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