Congress to Consider Radio Royalties for Artists

Loeb & Loeb LLP is noted and Denise Stevens is quoted in an article discussing the debate about how royalties should be paid when a song plays on the radio, with Congress taking up the issue. Last week, Warner Music announced a breakthrough deal to collect royalties when its artists have a song played on one of Clear Channel’s 850 radio stations. Currently, federal law exempts broadcast companies from paying artists and labels for songs broadcast on terrestrial radio. Those payments go exclusively to the songwriters and publishers, as has been the arrangement for decades. The article states that the question is muddied by the emergence of Internet radio, which does pay out a royalty to artists and labels.