musicFIRST Applauds Congressman Mel Watt for Leading on Performance Right

Washington, D.C. – musicFIRST Executive Director Ted Kalo released the following comments after today’s hearing “Innovation in America: The Role of Copyrights” in the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet:

“We applaud Ranking Member Watt for taking leadership to end the decades long injustice that denies performers’ compensation when their work is played on AM/FM radio. AM/FM radio stands alone among all forms of radio in refusing to pay music creators for airing their performances. As we heard at this hearing from Tor Hansen of Yep Rock records and Red Eye distribution, the lack of this right, almost universally recognized in other countries, also robs Americans of the royalties they have earned for the use of their works overseas.”