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Copyright Law Summary
Performance Rights Act
S.2500, H.R.4789, 12/18/2007
Basic Information
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (VT) and Rep. Howard L. Berman (CA) introduced this bill in chambers on December 18, 2007. The bill is described, “A bill to provide fair compensation to artists for use of their sound recordings,” and shall be also known as the “Performance Rights Act.”
This bill revises federal copyright law to provide performers of sound recordings rights to compensation from terrestrial broadcasters. It sets a flat annual fee in lieu of payment of royalties for individual terrestrial broadcast stations with gross revenues of less than $1.25 million and for non-commercial, public broadcast stations. Alternatively, it grants terrestrial broadcast stations engaged in the production of limited feature uses of sound recordings a “per program license option.”
The proposed legislation provides an exemption from royalty payments for broadcasts of religious services and for incidental uses of musical sound recordings.
In addition, the proposed legislation makes clear that nothing in the Performance Rights Act will adversely affect the public performance rights or royalties payable to songwriters or copyright owners of musical works.
In the Senate, the bill went through two readings, and was referred to the Committee of the Judiciary on December 18, 2007. In the Lower House, the last major action was a referral of the bill to the House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property on January 14, 2008.
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