AFM to Lobby Washington on March 3rd
3/3/09
WASHINGTON, DC – Members of the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM) will fly in from across the country to Washington on Tuesday to lobby Congress for a full performance right in sound recordings broadcast over AM/FM radio. They will lobby members of both the House and Senate from their home states, asking for support of the Performance Rights Act, H.R. 848 and S.379 (formerly H.R. 4789 and S.2500). The measure has been reintroduced in both the House and Senate and already has bipartisan support; the AFM is urging passage into law this year.
“We have AFM musicians coming from all over the country to make their voices heard in Washington,” said AFM President Thomas F. Lee. “This piece of legislation is crucial to all musicians, and now is the time for passage. We urge Congress to make the Performance Rights Act a top priority this session.”
The Performance Rights Act (S. 379 and H.R. 848) was introduced in the Senate earlier this month by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Bob Corker (R-TN), Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA), and in the House by Representative John Conyers (D-MI), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Representatives Howard Berman (D-CA), Darrell Issa (R-CA), Collin Peterson (D-MN), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Shadegg (R-AZ) and Paul Hodes (D-NH). Representatives Peterson and Hodes are also AFM members.
The Performance Rights Act will bring the United States in line with almost every other nation in the world. Only a few countries do not provide a fair performance right on radio, including Iran, North Korea, China and the U.S. And because U.S. radio stations do not pay a performance royalty for foreign artists, American artists are not compensated when their music is played on stations around the world – an inequity that costs American artists tens of millions of dollars each year.
ABOUT THE AFM
Founded in 1896, the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM), AFL-CIO, is the largest organization in the world dedicated to representing the interests of professional musicians.
With more than 90,000 members, the AFM represents all types of professional musicians, including those who record music for sound recordings, film scores, videogames, radio, television and commercial announcements, as well as perform music of every genre in every sort of venue from small jazz clubs to symphony orchestra halls to major stadiums. Whether negotiating fair agreements, protecting ownership of recorded music, securing benefits such as health care and pension, or lobbying legislators, the AFM is committed to raising industry standards and placing the professional musician in the foreground of the cultural landscape. www.afm.org
