Political Quotes

“Today, Senator Hatch and I renew our bipartisan effort to improve and modernize our intellectual property laws. We are reintroducing the Performance Rights Act to ensure artists are compensated fairly when their works are used. I am pleased that performance rights legislation will be introduced in the House today, as well. When radio stations broadcast music, listeners are enjoying the intellectual property of two creative artists--the songwriter and the performer. The success, and the artistic quality, of any recorded song depends on both. Radio stations pay songwriters for a license to broadcast the music they have composed. The songwriters' work is promoted by the air play, but no one seriously questions that the songwriter should be paid for the use of his or her work. The performing artist, however, is not paid by the radio station. The time has come to end this inequity. Its historical justification has been overtaken by technological change. In the digital world, we enjoy music transmitted over a variety of platforms. When webcasters, satellite radio companies, or cable companies play music, and profit from its use, they compensate the performing artists. Terrestrial broadcast radio is the only platform that still does not pay for the use of sound recordings. Radio play surely has promotional value to the artists, but there is a property right in the sound recording, and those that create the content should be compensated for their work.”