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Variety USA

Panel OKs bill on royalties

By TED JOHNSON

House gives go-ahead to radio-play royalties

The House Judiciary Committee approved a bill Wednesday that will, for the first time, require radio broadcasters to pay performers when their music is played on the air.

The Performance Rights Act passed by a vote of 21 to 9, even as some minority broadcasters and other groups argued that the bill could have an adverse impact on minority broadcasters.

Owners of African-American radio stations even staged a protest Wednesday in front of the Detroit offices of House Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers, who has championed the legislation.

The bill will move to the full House for a vote; a similar bill is currently pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The National Assn. of Broadcasters has waged an extensive campaign to defeat the bill, arguing that it would force broadcasters to pay royalties at the very moment that so many are in bankruptcy or are struggling to make ends meet amid the recession-fueled decline in local ad spending.

Calling it a "performance tax," the NAB questioned whether it was an issue of "fairness" given that record labels also would be collecting a share of the royalties.

Source:Variety