S. 379 would provide fair compensation to artists for use of their sound recordings.
Detailed Summary
Performance Rights Act - Amends federal copyright law to: (1) grant performers of sound recordings equal rights to compensation from terrestrial broadcasters; and (2) modify the circumstances under which the public performance of a sound recording is subject to statutory licensing.
Establishes a flat annual fee in lieu of payment of royalties for individual terrestrial broadcast stations with gross revenues of less than $1.25 million and for noncommercial, public broadcast stations. Grants: (1) an exemption from royalty payments for broadcasts of religious services and for incidental uses of musical sound recordings; and (2) terrestrial broadcast stations that make limited feature uses of sound recordings a per program license option.
Prohibits anything in this Act from adversely affecting the public performance rights or royalties payable to songwriters or copyright owners of musical works.
Status of the Legislation
Latest Major Action: 10/15/2009: Senate committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Committee on the Judiciary. Date of scheduled consideration. SD-226. 10:00 a.m.
Points in Favor
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Points Against
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Visitor Comments
EmmieTM
October 16, 2009, 9:37am (report abuse)Congress: Stop this nonsense! Stop bailing out broken business models. Government should reflect the interests of the PEOPLE not the corporations and lawyers. I hope this disgusting excuse for a bill only hastens the demise of the likes of the RIAA.
SuperG
October 16, 2009, 9:49am (report abuse)This bill isn't for the artists. It's basically to bail out RIAA because they refuse to change with the times and technology.
droslovinia
October 16, 2009, 10:09am (report abuse)Are you serious? First you force us to buy health insurance with no brakes on what those pirates can charge us, and now this? You force people to pay in order to promote someone? Is there any segment of the business community that DOESN'T have its hands in your pockets? You took millions from healthcare and now how much from RIAA? Please do us a favor and next time run with a price tag so we can see how much it will cost us to get you to represent the people, instead of business interests. If it takes money, rather than votes, to get representation from you, you can at least be up-front with how much you're looking for.
This bill is the kind of garbage that totally erodes what little trust we have left in our government....
DavidB
October 16, 2009, 10:38am (report abuse)What is WROG with Congress? Why are they passing bills to "protect" the revenue of an organization that does NOTHING to actually PROMOTE recording artists?
ReverendDraco
October 16, 2009, 10:51am (report abuse)Stop listening to the radio, stop buying CDs. . . The internet has all the music you'll ever want. Support independent labels. Support artist-owned labels. Get your music in such a way that the artist benefits, not the label.
George
October 16, 2009, 10:58am (report abuse)Hey Government, Its for the People, NOT THE CORPORATIONS!
I will never give them another cent of my hard earned money. Support indie all the way and the artists that choose to side with the best interest of their fans and not BIG CORPORATIONS!
johnb
October 16, 2009, 11:23am (report abuse)I am stunned that you really think this helps the music industry. Where does this money go? The RIAA tells you it goes to the Artists but why don’t you ask how that works. Only about half of them actually get anything and then its pennies on the dollar. Yes artists should be paid for there work but not the organizations that manage them. New artist will be really hurt by this. The radio stations will not play "New Music" because they can’t afford to take a chance with there ratings. It has been proven again and again that the RIAA is grasping at straws because they are desperate. They are loosing fans for artists taking fans to court and loosing 75-80% of the time. The bottom line here is that the music belongs to the people who created it. Not the record companies, not the RIAA. They have a right to recover their investment and make a profit but onyx for a short period of time. The only right course of action here is to dump this idea and give the music back to the artists.
Jordan Kratz
October 16, 2009, 4:53pm (report abuse)I fully intend to stick it to the RIAA and their greedy bands/labels.This is just one more reason for people to wake up and never buy anything from these bloodsuckers.
Now I also want you to know I am a musician and play in 2 bands.I am 53 years old and have played rock music since 1972.
www.bigmeathammer.com is my site and I give my music away cause I want fans and if they are poor they are welcome to my art and all at 256 - 320k mp3 so it sounds good to for mp3.
I am totally against this and it reaaly pissses me off.What bastards these people are.My band was glad to have anyone play us and look at radio as a way to help us out.We would never want to take money from broadcasting ever and I mean that.
Now if any label/RIAA/Goverment folks read my lips:
I AM FINISHED WITH YOU CORRUPT INDUSTRY !!!!
you will never see my spend money on you bastards.
RonH.
October 17, 2009, 6:08am (report abuse)Technology is NOT a friend of the RIAA and never will be their business model is antiquated and being bailed out by the government, what a shock!! It's all about $$$ to the RIAA and nothing to the artists(slave labor)
Ryan S
October 17, 2009, 12:46pm (report abuse)I think this bill is a fantastic idea, after passing this, I suggest you go to independent artist's houses and rape them... so that they can know the joy of getting raped *twice*.
If this passes it will truly cement my opinion that:
1. Congress has no clue
or
2. Congress has been bought and paid for by the likes or the RIAA and puts corporate interests higher than the people they were elected to represent.
Alan T
October 18, 2009, 2:15pm (report abuse)Its incredable to me how STUPID the RIAA (which isnt American btw)believes we are. This isnt going to put money in the writers/artists pockets. This has only ONE goal, to shore up a lost cause business model that the recording labels are un-willing to update. The RIAA have shown over and over again that they dont give a damn about the customer or the artist interests. This bill should be stopped, and any attempt to re-visit it should be blocked!
Tyrone
October 18, 2009, 5:29pm (report abuse)Roland please keep the stupid female off your show
Patrick
October 19, 2009, 10:09am (report abuse)Doesn't anyone find it strange that the people have voted against this 99% to 1%, yet this Bill pushes forward. Not one comment to justify this, yet the Bill pushes forward. I guess the people don't have enough money to buy back the power. I would seriously like to hear the other side of this subject. Please inform me.