Right now, regular radio stations (the kind you listen to in your car) don't have to pay musicians and record labels when they play their songs on the air. This bill would change that by requiring these radio stations to get a license and pay royalties—basically a fee—every time they broadcast a copyrighted song. The Copyright Royalty Board would decide how much these fees should be, taking into account how radio play affects other ways artists make money, like streaming services.

The bill does include a break for smaller radio stations. If a station doesn't make much money, it can pay a flat fee instead of the higher rates that bigger stations would pay. This means local or independent radio stations wouldn't face the same financial burden as major broadcasters. Essentially, this bill is about making sure that musicians and record companies get paid when their work is used on terrestrial radio, similar to how they already get paid when songs are played on digital radio or streaming platforms.

American Music Fairness Act

Blackburn, Marsha

American Music Fairness Act This bill establishes that the copyright holder of a sound recording shall have the exclusive right to perform the sound recording through an audio transmission. (Currently, the public performance right only covers performances through a digital audio transmission in certain instances, which means that nonsubscription terrestrial radio stations generally do not have to get a license to publicly perform a copyright-protected sound recording.) Under the bill, a nonsubscription broadcast transmission must have a license to publicly perform such sound recordings. The Copyright Royalty Board must periodically determine the royalty rates for such a license. When determining the rates, the board must base its decision on certain information presented by the parties, including the radio stations' effect on other streams of revenue related to the sound recordings. Terrestrial broadcast stations (and the owners of such stations) that fall below certain revenue thresholds may pay certain flat fees, instead of the board-established rate, for a license to publicly perform copyright-protected sound recordings.