Music, Broadcasting Reps Trade Blows

On the eve of a House Judiciary Committee hearing to examine legislation that would terminate a longstanding royalty exemption afforded to AM and FM radio, the National Association of Broadcasters slammed the music industry-led effort as being "founded on an incomplete and therefore misleading comparison of US and international copyright law." Proponents of the bill have argued that in every other democratic free market country, radio stations compensate musicians when they play their music. The countries, however, do not compensate artists and musicians within the United States because the United States does not provide a performance right for their artists.