Radio Battle Heats Up Before Mark Up
CongressDaily's AM Edition reports that House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers on Wednesday will try to calm broadcasters' fears that legislation he co-sponsored with Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Darrell Issa could harm local radio and diminish diversity on AM and FM airwaves. When Conyers' panel marks up the bill, which would end a long-standing copyright royalty exemption for over-the-air radio, he plans to propose slashing the fee small commercial stations would have to pay performers and record labels. Rather than paying the flat $5,000 annual royalty proposed in the current version, Conyers' potential amendment would require the smallest stations to offer as little as $500 per year while others that generate less than $1.25 million in annual revenue would pay based on a sliding scale.
Another possible amendment would create a two-year payment delay for a number of small stations with the hope that the economy will rebound, Hill sources said Monday. A third potential proposal would require AM and FM radio to be held to the same rate standard as cable, Internet and satellite radio, which currently pay performers under dissimilar fee structures. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., pushed the "platform parity" idea last Congress as a similar bill sponsored by Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy was being debated in his committee. Leahy reintroduced his measure in February but has been focused on patent legislation. Under Feinstein's January 2007 proposal, various platforms would pay a fair market value for the performance of digital music and would require the use of anti-piracy technologies that are technologically and economically feasible.
Meanwhile, broadcasters are complaining that the Conyers bill could harm local radio and diminish diversity on AM and FM airwaves. Radio One CEO Alfred Liggins argues his sector is in dire straits and they cannot afford to pay performers. Liggins, whose enterprise is the largest minority-owned U.S. media company, owns several stations in Conyers' congressional district and over the last 18 months has laid off 21 employees. As the legislation moves forward, Liggins said he would direct his on-air talent in Detroit to take to the airwaves in opposition. Read more in CongressDaily here.
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