Labor To Help Boost Support For Performance Rights
April 27, 2010
| 9:52 PM
The AFL-CIO will support local lobbying efforts on behalf of legislation that would require AM and FM radio stations to pay performers for airing their songs, the labor group announced Tuesday at a rally on Capitol Hill. The event was organized by the musicFIRST coalition, which includes a dozen music industry groups including the
Recording Industry Association of America.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said that "all 11.5 million members of the AFL-CIO stand united" behind the legislation hailed at the event. "The labor movement was founded on the principle that a hard day's work deserves a fair day's pay. That's the principle at stake in the fight for the Performance Rights Act," he said in a statement.
The legislation has been approved by both the House and Senate Judiciary committees and is backed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. But congressional obstacles remain for a measure that is staunchly opposed by the National Association of Broadcasters, which says the new fees would bankrupt local stations. It has attracted broad congressional support for non-binding resolutions in both chambers opposing the performance rights legislation.
The Tuesday rally drew House Education and Labor Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., and House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., as well as Reps. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., Jerrold Nadler, D-NY, John Garamendi, D-Calif., Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., and Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio. It also featured a performance by Peter Yarrow of the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary.
Join the Discussion
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus