The Senate committee looking at the Performance Rights Act is scheduled to work on and potentially pass the legislation today. As previously discussed, this legislation is poorly written (it is unclear if college stations will pay $500 or $1,000 annually) and will require new burdens on college stations in the form of recordkeeping and content restrictions.
If this is likely to have a negative effect on your station, you should take 2 minutes of your time to call the following numbers…
Amy Klobuchar - 202-224-3244
Herb Kohl - (202) 224-5653
Arlen Spector - 202-224-4254
For a little background, this act would place a new financial burden on all radio stations, including college and HS stations in the form of new fees, new recordkeeping requirements and content restrictions.
A sample script is below…
Hi, my name is --------------- and I am calling and asking you to oppose the Performance Rights Act. As written, the act will place new burdens on student operated Educational Stations in the form of new fees, require new recordkeeping requirements which these Educational Stations are not equipped to supply such data and the bill will place content restrictions on what these educational stations may air. Further, it is clear that most of the small independent and local artists that are broadcast on educational stations will never see a financial benefit from the fees imposed on these stations.
The labels and artists say this bill is about fairness, but it would place an unfair burden on Educational Stations and not compensate the artists. (If you are calling from a public school, you might want to also suggest that this amounts to a federal bailout for the foreign owned recording companies which will receive 50% of the revenues generated by this bill). I urge you to vote against this legislation in the committee. If you have questions, please contact College Broadcasters, Inc. (CBI) which represents Educational Stations at 713-348-2935. Their representatives are able to provide you with facts that are not being discussed in the debate concerning this matter.
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The Senate Judiciary Committee is now slated to take up the Act this thursday, 10/15. Call your Senators!
ReplyDeleteso how do you vote and when is this act up to vote against?
ReplyDeleteIt's in committee this thursday. Ideally it doesn't get passed there and then never makes it to the floor for a full vote. To voice opposition, call Arlen Spector's office or the other two senators above who are on the committee. It takes like 2 minutes.
ReplyDelete