he House Judiciary Committee has, as expected, passed HR 848, the Performance Rights Act, which would impose performance royalties on radio. The NAB applauded the nine committee members who voted against the bill, saying that shows there is “considerable bipartisan opposition to a performance tax.”
The quest to put a radio tuner in every mobile device continues to move forward. Talks among radio groups, the NAB, cell phone carriers and the FCC are in motion, and if all goes well, supporters believe within five years every portable device could be equipped with a radio chip. Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan says “It’s the next big thing for the industry.”
As internet radio stations fight to get a reduction in Copyright Royalty Board-levied royalties, there’s a move to tie it to the effort to win a performance royalty from over-the-air radio. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) says “I don’t know how we ever get to a system of rate parity by leaving the 800-pound gorilla out of the room.” So far NAB lobbying has secured the pledge of 222 House members and 14 Senators to oppose what the NAB says amounts to a tax.