MusicFIRST, Broadcasters Spar
A music industry coalition pushing for a measure that would require AM and FM radio stations to pay performers a fee for playing their music on air is crying foul over the latest radio and TV ads being aired by broadcasters opposing the legislation. In a letter Thursday to members of Congress, the MusicFIRST coalition disputed claims made in the ads airing on local radio and TV stations.
In the broadcasters' radio ad, which can be heard on Washington-area stations such as WTOP, the announcer accuses the music industry of pushing for a new tax "on every song played on the radio," money that would go to giant record companies "most of which are in foreign countries." The ad claims the measure will "bankrupt local radio stations." It also warns that, "like a lot of bad ideas, it will happen unless we tell our members of Congress to stop it."
In their letter, MusicFIRST said while they are not surprised that broadcasters are using the airwaves to oppose the legislation, "What is unique this time, however, is the volume and astonishing distortion of the broadcaster media campaign." The letter rebuts the claims in the ad including broadcasters description of the proposed fee as a tax, saying "to call a payment from one private party for the use of the property of another private party a 'tax' is ludicrous." The coalition also rejected broadcasters' claim that the fees would go to foreign-owned record companies. The letter noted that the fees would be split evenly between performers and copyright owners.
The performance rights legislation has been approved by the House and Senate Judiciary committees. The leaders of those panels have urged the two sides to try to reach a compromise. Music industry and broadcasting representatives met for congressional-sponsored talks late last year but no new meeting has been set. MusicFIRST reiterated its willingness to continue the negotiations but also urged lawmakers to support the bill and reject a resolution opposing the performance rights bill.
National Association of Broadcasters spokesman Dennis Wharton said his group stands by the "accuracy of these ads 100 percent. This is a desperate effort by [the Recording Industry Association of America] to divert attention from two undeniable facts: Passage of the performance tax would kill thousands of jobs in the U.S., and divert hundreds of millions of dollars from American radio stations to foreign record labels based in Tokyo, Paris and London."
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Intellectual Property
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