Speaker Pelosi Supports Performance Rights Act

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is supporting the Performance Rights Act, a bill aimed at levying royalties on radio for free local airplay. The Hill reports that Pelosi, speaking at the Recording Academy's Grammy on the Hill advocacy event, said singers and musicians deserve to be "compensated for their creativity."

"The rights of performers are not forgotten," she said. "You have an army of advocates by your side -- from both parties -- on Capitol Hill."

Last month, fifty-six Democratic members of the U.S. House, along with 63 Republican House members, sent letters to Pelosi and Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), respectively, asking that the "Performance Rights Act" not be brought to a vote on the House floor. The letter to Pelosi said "Enactment of H.R. 848 could lead to the elimination of jobs in our communities."

Specifically, radio jobs, as the effects of the recent recession has taken its toll on the radio industry. "Should Congress approve this new expense, some stations will face the reality of eliminating jobs in order to pay this new fee. Congress should avoid adding additional burdens to the already difficult employment situation local radio stations find themselves in today."

With three of the four major record labels are foreign-owned, the letter calls the PRA "troublesome" and that it "would enrich those entities while putting thousands of American radio jobs at risk, harming local radio stations and our local communities."

The Local Radio Freedom Act, opposing any new royalties, is backed by 260 House lawmakers. An identical Senate resolution is supported by a bipartisan group of 27 U.S. senators.