The House Copyright Subcommittee heard several viewpoints this week on whether radio and TV stations should pay ASCAP, BMI and SESAC separate fees when the stations stream music over the Internet. The Recording Industry Association of America says stations should pay the fee to performers because it’s a different use of the music.
NAB says radio stations have already paid the licensing fees for the music and shouldn’t have to pay another fee – whether the station is simply duplicating its format on the Internet or whether the station is Internet only.
More than 2,000 stations duplicate their programming on the Internet, said NAB President/CEO Eddie Fritts. He said the relationship between stations and record companies is “symbiotic,” and quoted one record exec. as saying, “without airplay, we’d all be in the door-to-door aluminum siding business.”
Leslie Stimson
NAB Opposes More Licensing Fees
NAB Opposes More Licensing Fees
