I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 861
To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide fair treatment of radio
stations and artists for the use of sound recordings, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY31, 2025
Mr. I
SSA(for himself, Mr. NADLER, Mr. GREENof Tennessee, Mr. MCCLIN-
TOCK, and Mr. LIEU) introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide fair treat-
ment of radio stations and artists for the use of sound
recordings, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3
(a) S
HORTTITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4
‘‘American Music Fairness Act of 2025’’. 5
(b) T
ABLE OFCONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6
this Act is as follows: 7
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Equitable treatment for terrestrial broadcasts and internet services.
Sec. 3. Timing of proceedings under sections 112(e) and 114(f).
Sec. 4. Special protection for small broadcasters.
VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Feb 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H861.IH H861
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2
•HR 861 IH
Sec. 5. Distribution of certain royalties.
Sec. 6. No harmful effects on songwriters.
Sec. 7. Value of promotion taken into account.
SEC. 2. EQUITABLE TREATMENT FOR TERRESTRIAL
1
BROADCASTS AND INTERNET SERVICES. 2
(a) P
ERFORMANCE RIGHTAPPLICABLE TOAUDIO 3
T
RANSMISSIONSGENERALLY.—Paragraph (6) of section 4
106 of title 17, United States Code, is amended to read 5
as follows: 6
‘‘(6) in the case of sound recordings, to perform 7
the copyrighted work publicly by means of an audio 8
transmission.’’. 9
(b) I
NCLUSION OF TERRESTRIALBROADCASTS IN 10
E
XISTINGPERFORMANCE RIGHT ANDSTATUTORYLI-11
CENSE.—Section 114(d)(1) of title 17, United States 12
Code, is amended— 13
(1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 14
by striking ‘‘a digital’’ and inserting ‘‘an’’; 15
(2) by striking subparagraph (A); 16
(3) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and 17
(C) as (A) and (B), respectively; and 18
(4) in subparagraph (A), as redesignated by 19
paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘nonsubscription’’ each 20
place such term appears and inserting ‘‘licensed non-21
subscription’’. 22
(c) T
ECHNICAL ANDCONFORMINGAMENDMENTS.— 23
VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Feb 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H861.IH H861
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3
•HR 861 IH
(1) DEFINITION.—Section 101 of title 17, 1
United States Code, is amended by inserting after 2
the definition of ‘‘architectural work’’ the following: 3
‘‘An ‘audio transmission’ is a transmission of a sound 4
recording, whether in a digital, analog, or other format. 5
This term does not include the transmission of any audio-6
visual work.’’. 7
(2) C
ONFORMING REMOVAL OF DIGITAL .—Title 8
17, United States Code, is amended— 9
(A) in section 112(e)(8), by striking ‘‘a 10
digital audio transmission’’ and inserting ‘‘an 11
audio transmission’’; 12
(B) in section 114— 13
(i) in subsection (d)— 14
(I) in paragraph (2)— 15
(aa) in the matter preceding 16
subparagraph (A), by striking 17
‘‘subscription digital’’ and insert-18
ing ‘‘subscription’’; and 19
(bb) in subparagraph 20
(C)(viii), by striking ‘‘digital sig-21
nal’’ and inserting ‘‘signal’’; and 22
(II) in paragraph (4)— 23
(aa) in subparagraph (A), 24
by striking ‘‘a digital audio 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Feb 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H861.IH H861
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4
•HR 861 IH
transmission’’ and inserting ‘‘an 1
audio transmission’’; and 2
(bb) in subparagraph (B)(i), 3
by striking ‘‘a digital audio 4
transmission’’ and inserting ‘‘an 5
audio transmission’’; 6
(ii) in subsection (g)(2)(A), by strik-7
ing ‘‘a digital’’ and inserting ‘‘an’’; and 8
(iii) in subsection (j)— 9
(I) in paragraph (6)— 10
(aa) by striking ‘‘digital’’; 11
and 12
(bb) by striking ‘‘retrans-13
missions of broadcast trans-14
missions’’ and inserting ‘‘broad-15
cast transmissions and retrans-16
missions of broadcast trans-17
missions’’; and 18
(II) in paragraph (8), by striking 19
‘‘subscription digital’’ and inserting 20
‘‘subscription’’; and 21
(C) in section 1401— 22
(i) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘a 23
digital audio’’ and inserting ‘‘an audio’’; 24
and 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Feb 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H861.IH H861
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5
•HR 861 IH
(ii) in subsection (d)— 1
(I) in paragraph (1), by striking 2
‘‘a digital audio’’ and inserting ‘‘an 3
audio’’; 4
(II) in paragraph (2)(A), by 5
striking ‘‘a digital audio’’ and insert-6
ing ‘‘an audio’’; and 7
(III) in paragraph (4)(A), by 8
striking ‘‘a digital audio’’ and insert-9
ing ‘‘an audio’’. 10
SEC. 3. TIMING OF PROCEEDINGS UNDER SECTIONS 112(e) 11
AND 114(f). 12
Paragraph (3) of section 804(b) of title 17, United 13
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-14
lowing new subparagraph: 15
‘‘(D) A proceeding under this chapter shall 16
be commenced as soon as practicable after the 17
date of the enactment of this subparagraph to 18
determine royalty rates and terms for non-19
subscription broadcast transmissions, to be ef-20
fective for the period beginning on such date of 21
enactment, and ending on December 31, 2028. 22
Any payment due under section 114(f)(1)(D) 23
shall not be due until the due date of the first 24
royalty payments for nonsubscription broadcast 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Feb 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H861.IH H861
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 6
•HR 861 IH
transmissions that are determined, after the 1
date of the enactment of this subparagraph, by 2
the Copyright Royalty Judges. Thereafter, such 3
proceeding shall be repeated in each subsequent 4
fifth calendar year.’’. 5
SEC. 4. SPECIAL PROTECTION FOR SMALL BROADCASTERS. 6
(a) S
PECIFIEDROYALTYFEES.—Section 114(f)(1) 7
of title 17, United States Code, is amended by inserting 8
at the end the following new subparagraph: 9
‘‘(D)(i) Notwithstanding the provisions of 10
subparagraphs (A) through (C), the royalty 11
rate shall be as follows for nonsubscription 12
broadcast transmissions by each individual ter-13
restrial broadcast station licensed as such by 14
the Federal Communications Commission that 15
satisfies the conditions in clause (ii)— 16
‘‘(I) $10 per calendar year, in the 17
case of nonsubscription broadcast trans-18
missions by a broadcast station that gen-19
erated revenue in the immediately pre-20
ceding calendar year of less than 21
$100,000; 22
‘‘(II) $100 per calendar year, in the 23
case of nonsubscription broadcast trans-24
missions by a broadcast station that is a 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Feb 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H861.IH H861
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 7
•HR 861 IH
public broadcasting entity as defined in 1
section 118(f) and generated revenue in 2
the immediately preceding calendar year of 3
$100,000 or more, but less than 4
$1,500,000; and 5
‘‘(III) $500 per calendar year, in the 6
case of nonsubscription broadcast trans-7
missions by a broadcast station that is not 8
a public broadcasting entity as defined in 9
section 118(f) and generated revenue in 10
the immediately preceding calendar year of 11
$100,000 or more, but less than 12
$1,500,000. 13
‘‘(ii) An individual terrestrial broadcast 14
station licensed as such by the Federal Commu-15
nications Commission is eligible for a royalty 16
rate set forth in clause (i) if— 17
‘‘(I) the revenue from the operation of 18
that individual station was less than 19
$1,500,000 during the immediately pre-20
ceding calendar year; 21
‘‘(II) the aggregate revenue of the 22
owner and operator of the broadcast sta-23
tion and any person directly or indirectly 24
controlling, controlled by, or under com-25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Feb 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H861.IH H861
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 8
•HR 861 IH
mon control with such owner or operator, 1
from any source, was less than 2
$10,000,000 during the immediately pre-3
ceding calendar year; and 4
‘‘(III) the owner or operator of the 5
broadcast station provides to the nonprofit 6
collective designated by the Copyright Roy-7
alty Judges to distribute receipts from the 8
licensing of transmissions in accordance 9
with subsection (f), by no later than Janu-10
ary 31 of the relevant calendar year, a 11
written and signed certification of the sta-12
tion’s eligibility under this clause and the 13
applicable subclause of clause (i), in ac-14
cordance with requirements the Copyright 15
Royalty Judges shall prescribe by regula-16
tion. 17
‘‘(iii) For purposes of clauses (i) and (ii)— 18
‘‘(I) revenue shall be calculated in ac-19
cordance with generally accepted account-20
ing principles; 21
‘‘(II) revenue generated by a terres-22
trial broadcast station shall include all rev-23
enue from the operation of the station, 24
from any source; and 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Feb 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H861.IH H861
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 9
•HR 861 IH
‘‘(III) in the case of affiliated broad-1
cast stations, revenue shall be allocated 2
reasonably to individual stations associated 3
with the revenue. 4
‘‘(iv) The royalty rates specified in clause 5
(i) shall not be admissible as evidence or other-6
wise taken into account in determining royalty 7
rates in a proceeding under chapter 8, or in any 8
other administrative, judicial, or other Federal 9
Government proceeding involving the setting or 10
adjustment of the royalties payable for the pub-11
lic performance or reproduction in ephemeral 12
phonorecords or copies of sound recordings, the 13
determination of terms or conditions related 14
thereto, or the establishment of notice or rec-15
ordkeeping requirements.’’. 16
(b) T
ECHNICALCORRECTION.—Section 118(f) of 17
title 17, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘sec-18
tion 397 of title 47’’ and inserting ‘‘section 397 of the 19
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 397)’’. 20
SEC. 5. DISTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN ROYALTIES. 21
Section 114(g) of title 17, United States Code, is 22
amended— 23
VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Feb 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H861.IH H861
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 10
•HR 861 IH
(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or in the 1
case of a transmission to which paragraph (5) ap-2
plies’’ after ‘‘this section’’; 3
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (5), (6), and 4
(7) as (6), (7), and (8), respectively; and 5
(3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol-6
lowing new paragraph: 7
‘‘(5) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), to the ex-8
tent that a license granted by the copyright owner 9
of a sound recording to a transmitting entity eligible 10
for a statutory license under subsection (d)(2) ex-11
tends to such entity’s transmissions otherwise licens-12
able under a statutory license in accordance with 13
subsection (f), such entity shall pay to the collective 14
designated to distribute statutory licensing receipts 15
from the licensing of transmissions in accordance 16
with subsection (f), 50 percent of the total royalties 17
that such entity is required, pursuant to the applica-18
ble license agreement, to pay for such transmissions 19
otherwise licensable under a statutory license in ac-20
cordance with subsection (f). That collective shall 21
distribute such payments in proportion to the dis-22
tributions provided in subparagraphs (B) through 23
(D) of paragraph (2), and such payments shall be 24
the only payments to which featured and nonfea-25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Feb 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H861.IH H861
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 11
•HR 861 IH
tured artists are entitled by virtue of such trans-1
missions under the direct license with such entity.’’. 2
SEC. 6. NO HARMFUL EFFECTS ON SONGWRITERS. 3
Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this 4
Act, shall adversely affect in any respect the public per-5
formance rights of or royalties payable to songwriters or 6
copyright owners of musical works. 7
SEC. 7. VALUE OF PROMOTION TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT. 8
Pursuant to section 114(f)(1)(B) of title 17, United 9
States Code, in determining rates and terms for terrestrial 10
broadcast radio stations under this Act, and the amend-11
ments made by this Act, the Copyright Royalty Judges 12
shall base their decision on economic, competitive, and 13
programming information presented by the parties, includ-14
ing whether use of the station’s service may substitute for 15
or may promote the sales of phonorecords or otherwise 16
may interfere with or may enhance the sound recording 17
copyright owner’s other streams of revenue from the copy-18
right owner’s sound recordings. 19
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:14 Feb 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H861.IH H861
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS