Roots Music Report News Article
Performance Royalty
Civil Rights Groups Write To Leahy Opposing Performance Royalty
RI, Radio INK
2009-10-15
RI, Radio INK
2009-10-15
Civil Rights Groups Write To Leahy Opposing Performance Royalty
October 14, 2009: A letter signed by David Honig of the MMTC, Amador Bustos of the Spanish Radio Association, and other civil rights groups has gone to Sen. Patrick Leahy, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a leading advocate of the Performance Rights Act -- a bill Leahy introduced with Sen. Orrin Hatch that would impose performance royalties on broadcast radio.
The letter urges the group's opposition to the bill, citing statistics on minority broadcast ownership and saying minorities are "seriously underrepresented on the public airwaves, holding about 7% of the licenses and less than 2% of industry asset value. Most minority-owned stations operate with inferior facilities and are handicapped by weak financing."
The Performance Rights Act would, says the letter, "throw at least a third of minority broadcasters into bankruptcy," and continues, "The surviving stations would find it virtually impossible to raise the capital they need to grow." And growth capital, which the groups say is the only kind available, would only let small broadcasters grow large enough to trigger "huge" performance royalties.
The letter concludes, "The new FCC will have its hands full correcting the historic inequities facing minority broadcasters. In the meantime, Congress should not make the FCC's job far more difficult by enacting this legislation."
The Performance Rights Act has been approved by the House Judiciary Committee, but no vote is scheduled in the full House. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the bill in August, but the committee has not yet voted on the bill. A resolution opposing royalties for radio, the Local Radio Freedom Act, has gain the support of a majority of the House and more than 20 senators, but it is a non-binding resolution, and co-signing it doesn't obligate legislators to vote against the Performance Right Act if it should come to a vote on the House or Senate floor.
Written By: RI, Radio INK
October 14, 2009: A letter signed by David Honig of the MMTC, Amador Bustos of the Spanish Radio Association, and other civil rights groups has gone to Sen. Patrick Leahy, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a leading advocate of the Performance Rights Act -- a bill Leahy introduced with Sen. Orrin Hatch that would impose performance royalties on broadcast radio.
The letter urges the group's opposition to the bill, citing statistics on minority broadcast ownership and saying minorities are "seriously underrepresented on the public airwaves, holding about 7% of the licenses and less than 2% of industry asset value. Most minority-owned stations operate with inferior facilities and are handicapped by weak financing."
The Performance Rights Act would, says the letter, "throw at least a third of minority broadcasters into bankruptcy," and continues, "The surviving stations would find it virtually impossible to raise the capital they need to grow." And growth capital, which the groups say is the only kind available, would only let small broadcasters grow large enough to trigger "huge" performance royalties.
The letter concludes, "The new FCC will have its hands full correcting the historic inequities facing minority broadcasters. In the meantime, Congress should not make the FCC's job far more difficult by enacting this legislation."
The Performance Rights Act has been approved by the House Judiciary Committee, but no vote is scheduled in the full House. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the bill in August, but the committee has not yet voted on the bill. A resolution opposing royalties for radio, the Local Radio Freedom Act, has gain the support of a majority of the House and more than 20 senators, but it is a non-binding resolution, and co-signing it doesn't obligate legislators to vote against the Performance Right Act if it should come to a vote on the House or Senate floor.
Written By: RI, Radio INK