Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009

Floor Speech

Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2344) to amend section 114 of title 17, United States Code, to provide for agreements for the reproduction and performance of sound recordings by webcasters.

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Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009 allows the recording industry and the providers of Internet radio, also known as Webcasters, to negotiate reasonable royalty rates for the streaming of sound recordings on the Internet.

While a relatively new technology, the audience for Internet radio is growing rapidly. Fifty to 70 million Americans listen to Internet radio each month, in part because of the diverse programming available to cater to many different musical tastes.

In 1995, Congress passed a digital performance right for sound recordings. In 1998, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act expanded the right to Internet radio services by granting them the privilege of using copyrighted music at an industry-negotiated rate, or in the event the industry could not negotiate a rate, at a government-mandated rate determined by the Copyright Royalty Board, or CRB.

At the request of Webcasters, in 2004 Congress enacted the Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act, which authorized a CRB proceeding to set fair statutory rates for Internet radio. Accordingly, in 2007, the CRB announced new statutory royalty rates for sound recordings to be paid by Webcasters.

The CRB's decision, which sets rates on a minimum fee, per-song, per-listener formula, would require Webcasters to pay significantly higher royalties than they previously paid under a percentage-of-revenue model.

Because of concerns that the higher rates are likely to threaten the future of Internet radio, Congress enacted the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008. Signed into law last October, it allowed for the implementation of royalty fee agreements reached on or before February 15, 2009, between the recording industry and Webcasters that would serve as an alternative to the payment scheme set forth in the CRB decision.

While some Webcasters were able to reach consensus with the recording industry, others have not yet reached an agreement. Enactment of the Webcasters Settlement Act of 2009 will give more parties an opportunity to reach a consensus by allowing them to negotiate alternative rates. This opportunity to reach consensus will protect the viability of technology enjoyed by millions of Americans every day.

This legislation has the full support of the relevant parties. I commend the Internet radio and recording industries for the substantial progress that has been made in negotiations in recent months, and I encourage them to resolve all outstanding issues promptly so that we may see a thriving Internet radio industry in the near future.

I commend my colleague, Jay Inslee of Washington, for his leadership on this legislation, as well as Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chairman Howard Berman for facilitating discussions between the parties.

I would like to also commend Judiciary ranking member, Mr. LAMAR SMITH, for his leadership in making this a truly bipartisan effort, and I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I would join my colleague on the other side of the aisle in support of H.R. 848, which is the bill that you just mentioned, and the reason why is because it's just an issue of fairness. It's fairness to the artist as well as fairness to the platforms upon which we hear these sound recordings, Internet radio being one.

Cable, satellite, they have to pay performance royalties, which is really performers' royalties. They must pay that. But the broadcast industry, AM/FM radio, basically, is protected, if you will, or exempted from having to pay. This is anticompetitive, and it also results in great tragedy where these radio stations are able to play music repetitively that we all enjoy listening to, and then the artist who performs the music doesn't get a dime. And so many of them are forced to work what I call the ``Chitlin Circuit'' and, you know, can't even purchase their prescription medication for diabetes, whatever infirmity that they may have. And then some even die indigent and there's no coverage for burial expenses.

And so it's really an issue of fairness. And unfortunately, the broadcast industry has done a despicable thing, and that is to play the race card. And they do it with the deceptive and false statement that H.R. 848 is an attempt to drive black broadcasters, black radio stations off, out of existence, and nothing could be further from the truth.

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