Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB326 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 326
5	5	To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide fair treatment of radio
6	6	stations and artists for the use of sound recordings, and for other purposes.
7	7	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
8	8	JANUARY30, 2025
9	9	Mrs. B
10	10	LACKBURN(for herself, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. TILLIS, and Mr. BOOKER)
11	11	introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
12	12	Committee on the Judiciary
13	13	A BILL
14	14	To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide fair treat-
15	15	ment of radio stations and artists for the use of sound
16	16	recordings, and for other purposes.
17	17	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
18	18	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
19	19	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3
20	20	(a) S
21	21	HORTTITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4
22	22	‘‘American Music Fairness Act’’. 5
23	23	(b) T
24	24	ABLE OFCONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6
25	25	this Act is as follows: 7
26	26	Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
27	27	Sec. 2. Equitable treatment for terrestrial broadcasts and internet services.
28	28	Sec. 3. Timing of proceedings under sections 112(e) and 114(f).
29	29	Sec. 4. Special protection for small broadcasters.
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33	33	Sec. 5. Distribution of certain royalties.
34	34	Sec. 6. No harmful effects on songwriters.
35	35	Sec. 7. Value of promotion taken into account.
36	36	SEC. 2. EQUITABLE TREATMENT FOR TERRESTRIAL
37	37	1
38	38	BROADCASTS AND INTERNET SERVICES. 2
39	39	(a) P
40	40	ERFORMANCE RIGHTAPPLICABLE TOAUDIO 3
41	41	T
42	42	RANSMISSIONSGENERALLY.—Paragraph (6) of section 4
43	43	106 of title 17, United States Code, is amended to read 5
44	44	as follows: 6
45	45	‘‘(6) in the case of sound recordings, to perform 7
46	46	the copyrighted work publicly by means of an audio 8
47	47	transmission.’’. 9
48	48	(b) I
49	49	NCLUSION OF TERRESTRIALBROADCASTS IN 10
50	50	E
51	51	XISTINGPERFORMANCE RIGHT ANDSTATUTORYLI-11
52	52	CENSE.—Section 114(d)(1) of title 17, United States 12
53	53	Code, is amended— 13
54	54	(1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 14
55	55	by striking ‘‘a digital’’ and inserting ‘‘an’’; 15
56	56	(2) by striking subparagraph (A); 16
57	57	(3) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and 17
58	58	(C) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively; and 18
59	59	(4) in subparagraph (A), as redesignated by 19
60	60	paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘nonsubscription’’ and in-20
61	61	serting ‘‘licensed nonsubscription’’. 21
62	62	(c) T
63	63	ECHNICAL ANDCONFORMINGAMENDMENTS.— 22
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67	67	(1) DEFINITION.—Section 101 of title 17, 1
68	68	United States Code, is amended by inserting after 2
69	69	the definition of ‘‘architectural work’’ the following: 3
70	70	‘‘An ‘audio transmission’ is a transmission of a sound 4
71	71	recording, whether in a digital, analog, or other format. 5
72	72	This term does not include the transmission of any audio-6
73	73	visual work.’’. 7
74	74	(2) C
75	75	ONFORMING REMOVAL OF ‘‘DIGITAL’’.— 8
76	76	Title 17, United States Code, is amended— 9
77	77	(A) in section 112(e)(8), by striking ‘‘a 10
78	78	digital audio transmission’’ and inserting ‘‘an 11
79	79	audio transmission’’; 12
80	80	(B) in section 114— 13
81	81	(i) in subsection (d)— 14
82	82	(I) in paragraph (2)— 15
83	83	(aa) in the matter preceding 16
84	84	subparagraph (A), by striking 17
85	85	‘‘subscription digital’’ and insert-18
86	86	ing ‘‘subscription’’; and 19
87	87	(bb) in subparagraph 20
88	88	(C)(viii), by striking ‘‘digital sig-21
89	89	nal’’ and inserting ‘‘signal’’; and 22
90	90	(II) in paragraph (4)— 23
91	91	(aa) in subparagraph (A), 24
92	92	by striking ‘‘a digital audio 25
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96	96	transmission’’ and inserting ‘‘an 1
97	97	audio transmission’’; and 2
98	98	(bb) in subparagraph (B)(i), 3
99	99	by striking ‘‘a digital audio 4
100	100	transmission’’ and inserting ‘‘an 5
101	101	audio transmission’’; 6
102	102	(ii) in subsection (g)(2)(A), by strik-7
103	103	ing ‘‘a digital’’ and inserting ‘‘an’’; and 8
104	104	(iii) in subsection (j)— 9
105	105	(I) in paragraph (6)— 10
106	106	(aa) by striking ‘‘digital’’; 11
107	107	and 12
108	108	(bb) by striking ‘‘retrans-13
109	109	missions of broadcast trans-14
110	110	missions’’ and inserting ‘‘broad-15
111	111	cast transmissions and retrans-16
112	112	missions of broadcast trans-17
113	113	missions’’; and 18
114	114	(II) in paragraph (8), by striking 19
115	115	‘‘subscription digital’’ and inserting 20
116	116	‘‘subscription’’; and 21
117	117	(C) in section 1401— 22
118	118	(i) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘a 23
119	119	digital audio’’ and inserting ‘‘an audio’’; 24
120	120	and 25
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124	124	(ii) in subsection (d)— 1
125	125	(I) in paragraph (1), by striking 2
126	126	‘‘a digital audio’’ and inserting ‘‘an 3
127	127	audio’’; 4
128	128	(II) in paragraph (2)(A), by 5
129	129	striking ‘‘a digital audio’’ and insert-6
130	130	ing ‘‘an audio’’; and 7
131	131	(III) in paragraph (4)(A), by 8
132	132	striking ‘‘a digital audio’’ and insert-9
133	133	ing ‘‘an audio’’. 10
134	134	SEC. 3. TIMING OF PROCEEDINGS UNDER SECTIONS 112(e) 11
135	135	AND 114(f). 12
136	136	Paragraph (3) of section 804(b) of title 17, United 13
137	137	States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-14
138	138	lowing new subparagraph: 15
139	139	‘‘(D) A proceeding under this chapter shall 16
140	140	be commenced as soon as practicable after the 17
141	141	date of the enactment of this subparagraph to 18
142	142	determine royalty rates and terms for non-19
143	143	subscription broadcast transmissions, to be ef-20
144	144	fective for the period beginning on such date of 21
145	145	enactment, and ending on December 31, 2028. 22
146	146	Any payment due under section 114(f)(1)(D) 23
147	147	shall not be due until the due date of the first 24
148	148	royalty payments for nonsubscription broadcast 25
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152	152	transmissions that are determined, after the 1
153	153	date of the enactment of this subparagraph, by 2
154	154	the Copyright Royalty Judges. Thereafter, such 3
155	155	proceeding shall be repeated in each subsequent 4
156	156	fifth calendar year.’’. 5
157	157	SEC. 4. SPECIAL PROTECTION FOR SMALL BROADCASTERS. 6
158	158	(a) S
159	159	PECIFIEDROYALTYFEES.—Section 114(f)(1) 7
160	160	of title 17, United States Code, is amended by inserting 8
161	161	at the end the following new subparagraph: 9
162	162	‘‘(D)(i) Notwithstanding the provisions of sub-10
163	163	paragraphs (A) through (C), the royalty rate shall 11
164	164	be as follows for nonsubscription broadcast trans-12
165	165	missions by each individual terrestrial broadcast sta-13
166	166	tion licensed as such by the Federal Communica-14
167	167	tions Commission that satisfies the conditions in 15
168	168	clause (ii)— 16
169	169	‘‘(I) $10 per calendar year, in the case of 17
170	170	nonsubscription broadcast transmissions by a 18
171	171	broadcast station that generated revenue in the 19
172	172	immediately preceding calendar year of less 20
173	173	than $100,000; 21
174	174	‘‘(II) $100 per calendar year, in the case 22
175	175	of nonsubscription broadcast transmissions by a 23
176	176	broadcast station that is a public broadcasting 24
177	177	entity as defined in section 118(f) and gen-25
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181	181	erated revenue in the immediately preceding 1
182	182	calendar year of $100,000 or more, but less 2
183	183	than $1,500,000; and 3
184	184	‘‘(III) $500 per calendar year, in the case 4
185	185	of nonsubscription broadcast transmissions by a 5
186	186	broadcast station that is not a public broad-6
187	187	casting entity as defined in section 118(f) and 7
188	188	generated revenue in the immediately preceding 8
189	189	calendar year of $100,000 or more, but less 9
190	190	than $1,500,000. 10
191	191	‘‘(ii) An individual terrestrial broadcast station 11
192	192	licensed as such by the Federal Communications 12
193	193	Commission is eligible for a royalty rate set forth in 13
194	194	clause (i) if— 14
195	195	‘‘(I) the revenue from the operation of that 15
196	196	individual station was less than $1,500,000 16
197	197	during the immediately preceding calendar year; 17
198	198	‘‘(II) the aggregate revenue of the owner 18
199	199	and operator of the broadcast station and any 19
200	200	person directly or indirectly controlling, con-20
201	201	trolled by, or under common control with such 21
202	202	owner or operator, from any source, was less 22
203	203	than $10,000,000 during the immediately pre-23
204	204	ceding calendar year; and 24
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208	208	‘‘(III) the owner or operator of the broad-1
209	209	cast station provides to the nonprofit collective 2
210	210	designated by the Copyright Royalty Judges to 3
211	211	distribute receipts from the licensing of trans-4
212	212	missions in accordance with subsection (f), by 5
213	213	no later than January 31 of the relevant cal-6
214	214	endar year, a written and signed certification of 7
215	215	the station’s eligibility under this clause and the 8
216	216	applicable subclause of clause (i), in accordance 9
217	217	with requirements the Copyright Royalty 10
218	218	Judges shall prescribe by regulation. 11
219	219	‘‘(iii) For purposes of clauses (i) and (ii)— 12
220	220	‘‘(I) revenue shall be calculated in accord-13
221	221	ance with generally accepted accounting prin-14
222	222	ciples; 15
223	223	‘‘(II) revenue generated by a terrestrial 16
224	224	broadcast station shall include all revenue from 17
225	225	the operation of the station, from any source; 18
226	226	and 19
227	227	‘‘(III) in the case of affiliated broadcast 20
228	228	stations, revenue shall be allocated reasonably 21
229	229	to individual stations associated with the rev-22
230	230	enue. 23
231	231	‘‘(iv) The royalty rates specified in clause (i) 24
232	232	shall not be admissible as evidence or otherwise 25
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236	236	taken into account in determining royalty rates in a 1
237	237	proceeding under chapter 8, or in any other adminis-2
238	238	trative, judicial, or other Federal Government pro-3
239	239	ceeding involving the setting or adjustment of the 4
240	240	royalties payable for the public performance or re-5
241	241	production in ephemeral phonorecords or copies of 6
242	242	sound recordings, the determination of terms or con-7
243	243	ditions related thereto, or the establishment of notice 8
244	244	or recordkeeping requirements.’’. 9
245	245	(b) T
246	246	ECHNICALCORRECTION.—Section 118 of title 10
247	247	17, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘section 11
248	248	397 of title 47’’ and inserting ‘‘section 397 of the Commu-12
249	249	nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 397)’’ in each place it 13
250	250	appears. 14
251	251	SEC. 5. DISTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN ROYALTIES. 15
252	252	Section 114(g) of title 17, United States Code, is 16
253	253	amended— 17
254	254	(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or in the 18
255	255	case of a transmission to which paragraph (5) ap-19
256	256	plies’’ after ‘‘this section’’; 20
257	257	(2) by redesignating paragraphs (5), (6), and 21
258	258	(7) as paragraphs (6), (7), and (8), respectively; and 22
259	259	(3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol-23
260	260	lowing new paragraph: 24
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264	264	‘‘(5) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), to the ex-1
265	265	tent that a license granted by the copyright owner 2
266	266	of a sound recording to a transmitting entity eligible 3
267	267	for a statutory license under subsection (d)(2) ex-4
268	268	tends to such entity’s transmissions otherwise licens-5
269	269	able under a statutory license in accordance with 6
270	270	subsection (f), such entity shall pay to the collective 7
271	271	designated to distribute statutory licensing receipts 8
272	272	from the licensing of transmissions in accordance 9
273	273	with subsection (f), 50 percent of the total royalties 10
274	274	that such entity is required, pursuant to the applica-11
275	275	ble license agreement, to pay for such transmissions 12
276	276	otherwise licensable under a statutory license in ac-13
277	277	cordance with subsection (f). That collective shall 14
278	278	distribute such payments in proportion to the dis-15
279	279	tributions provided in subparagraphs (B) through 16
280	280	(D) of paragraph (2), and such payments shall be 17
281	281	the only payments to which featured and nonfea-18
282	282	tured artists are entitled by virtue of such trans-19
283	283	missions under the direct license with such entity.’’. 20
284	284	SEC. 6. NO HARMFUL EFFECTS ON SONGWRITERS. 21
285	285	Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this 22
286	286	Act, shall adversely affect in any respect the public per-23
287	287	formance rights of or royalties payable to songwriters or 24
288	288	copyright owners of musical works. 25
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292	292	SEC. 7. VALUE OF PROMOTION TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT. 1
293	293	Pursuant to section 114(f)(1)(B) of title 17, United 2
294	294	States Code, in determining rates and terms for terrestrial 3
295	295	broadcast radio stations under this Act, and the amend-4
296	296	ments made by this Act, the Copyright Royalty Judges 5
297	297	shall base their decision on economic, competitive, and 6
298	298	programming information presented by the parties, includ-7
299	299	ing whether use of the station’s service may substitute for 8
300	300	or may promote the sales of phonorecords or otherwise 9
301	301	may interfere with or may enhance the sound recording 10
302	302	copyright owner’s other streams of revenue from the copy-11
303	303	right owner’s sound recordings. 12
304	304	Æ
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