Howard Berman: “But this was central to the complaints that has initiated the whole fight that has been going on for, I think, 8, 10…”

“But this was central to the complaints that has initiated the whole fight that has been going on for, I think, 8, 10 years in the Committee on the Judiciary. Secondly, it was always put in the context of the small restaurant or the small bar. I never thought that I would see the day when I would be coming forward to support an amendment that would exempt establishments of 3,500 square feet or under from paying any single fee to a performing rights organization for the use of their music. The gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Talent) made an eloquent statement. But when you examine some of his points, he said I do not want a free lunch for anyone. But this is a free lunch. He said the music has already been paid for, not by the people who are using it, by the stations that have decided to broadcast it. He is now creating a new public performance of that music. If it is just incidental, which is the way the gentleman from Missouri put it, if it is just incidental to the main purpose of their business, then if they do not want to pay the small amount annually they paid in order to use that music, they turn the radio off. It is very, very simple. It is incidental by its own terms. If it is incidental, it is essential. I would suggest the music is used as part of creating an atmosphere which encourages customers to come and patronize that restaurant, and I would suggest it is appropriate to ask them to pay for that just as much as they would pay for any other aspect of it.”