2014/02/26/David Byrne, Marc Ribot, Chris Ruen Lead Rally For Radio to Pay Performance Royalties

title/short::David Byrne, Marc Ribot, Chris Ruen Lead Rally For Radio to Pay Performance Royalties The United States is one of only several countries (including “Iran and North Korea”) where artists don’t receive a performance royalty when their song is played on terrestrial radio. While songwriters receive airplay royalties, musicians who perform on a song and artists who popularize a song originally written by somebody else, like Biz Markie and "Just A Friend" which is based on Freddie Scott's "(You) Got What I Need," have never been compensated in the U.S. Furthermore, when an American artist's music is played on the radio internationally, performance royalties for the artist are withheld, even if that country has different laws in place, leaving millions of unclaimed dollars on the table.
 * when: when posted::2014/02/26
 * author: author::William Gruger and Emily White
 * source: site::Billboard
 * topics: topic::copyright topic::radio topic::music industry topic::Future of Music Coalition topic::Content Creators Coalition topic::performance royalty
 * keywords
 * link: URL::http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/legal-and-management/5915809/david-byrne-marc-ribot-chris-ruen-lead-rally-for
 * title: title::David Byrne, Marc Ribot, Chris Ruen Lead Rally For Radio to Pay Performance Royalties
 * summary: The Content Creators Coalition sponsored an event in New York City calling on terrestrial radio to pay artists performance rights royalties.

This is an issue artists and labels have fought with terrestrial radio over for decades. When sound recording became copyrighted under law in 1972, radio broadcasters were able to claim an exemption from paying performance royalties on the grounds that the free exposure artists' gained from radio play lead to record sales and was payment enough. In 2009, the Performance Rights Act was introduced by members of the Senate and the House of Representatives to remove that exemption, but the bill failed to pass congress. Last fall, Rep. Mel Watt introduced new legislation to create a performance right for broadcast radio, the Free Market Royalty Act that stalled after he left the House of Representatives. However, for the first time since 1976 Congress is reviewing and rewriting copyright law [which] could present a new opportunity for a change in legislation.