American Music Fairness Act Is a Step in the Right Direction for Creating a Level Playing Field in US Copywrite Law, Says ITIF

WASHINGTON—In response to the House Judiciary hearing today on the American Music Fairness Act, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the leading think tank for science and technology policy, released the following statement from Jaci McDole, senior policy analyst at ITIF:

For too long, there has been a significant loophole in the U.S. copyright system that allows terrestrial radio broadcasters to avoid fairly compensating musicians for playing their songs.

The American Music Fairness Act would modernize U.S. copyright law by creating a level playing field—Internet radio, satellite radio, and AM/FM radio would all have to pay artists music performance royalties.

Moreover, it would bring revenue to the United States, as foreign countries would no longer be able to avoid compensating American artists when their songs are broadcast overseas.

ITIF has long called for updating U.S. copyright law to create parity between different technologies, and we look forward to working with Congress as it moves forward with the AMFA.

For more on this issue, please see:

• Daniel Castro, “Internet Radio and Copyright Royalties: Reforming a Broken System” (ITIF, 2007).