Sens. Blanche Lincoln, a Democrat, and John Barrasso, a Republican, sent a letter recently to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, reiterating their opposition.
“By many estimations, passage of this legislation would result in potentially billions of dollars flowing from local broadcasters to the recording industry and would have a devastating impact on the local radio broadcasting system as we know it,” they wrote. NAB distributed a link (PDF) to the letter.
Meanwhile USA Today took a look at the performance royalty confrontation on Capitol Hill, suggesting a “bitter fight” ahead over the future of the music business. (News flash: It’s already bitter.) “Prospects for a compromise look bleak,” it summarized.
While the article contains little that is new to RW readers, it’s interesting to see how the issue bubbles up on the national media radar.
“A showdown appears inevitable, possibly by year’s end, after the Senate Judiciary Committee cleared the bill last week,” it reported. “The House Judiciary Committee approved a similar bill in May. That’s the furthest advocates of the proposal have gotten after decades of attempts to change the law.”
The newspaper quotes NAB Board Chair Steve Newberry and MusicFirst’s Martin Machowsky.
Read it here.
