From Broadcast Law Blog

In the United States, performing rights in musical compositions (or “musical works” as the Copyright Act refers to them – the words and music of a song) are generally licensed by a “performing rights organization” or a “PRO.”  The U.S., unlike most countries where there is a single organization that collects these royalites, has multiple such organizations.  The recent doubling in the number of PROs triggered the Copyright Office to initiate a Notice of Inquiry last week requesting public comment on issues related to these organizations. 

When in January I offered my predictions as to the issues that the new FCC would be considering this year, payola and musical artists complaining of being coerced to play for free at radio station concerts or other events was not on the bingo card.  That changed early this past week when Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn sent a letter to FCC Chair Brendan Carr stating that she had received many complaints from musical artists complaining that they were being coerced to play for free at radio station events with threats that,

Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.

• Payola on broadcast stations suddenly was in the news this past week.  Early in the week, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) sent Chairman Carr a letter requesting that the FCC ban radio stations from asking musicians to play “free radio shows” (including “listener appreciation shows” or “charitable concert events”) in exchange for more airplay on stations or by threatening them with less airtime if they don’t participate. 

For years, we have warned about the need to license music in podcasts – and how such licenses need to be obtained directly from copyright holders.  We’ve noted demand notices sent to podcasters causing those podcasters to pull their programs from various distribution platforms (see, for instance, our articles here and here).  We warned that,

Last week, U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) introduced the American Music Fairness Act (see their Press Release for more details), with a companion bill to follow in the House.  If adopted, this legislation would impose a new music royalty on over-the-air radio stations.  The royalty would be payable to SoundExchange for the public performance of sound recordings. 

The AM for Every Vehicle Act has been introduced in the new Congress after dying when the last session of Congress ended in December without it getting to a vote, despite having the announced support of a majority of both the House and Senate.  Pending bills do not carry over to a new session of Congress.  Thus, the bill had to be reintroduced in the current Congress – which it was last week by Senate co-sponsors Ed Markey (D-MA) and Ted Cruz (R-TX).

Here are some of the regulatory developments from the past week of significance to broadcasters, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.

• FCC Chairman Carr sent a letter to NPR and PBS announcing that he has asked the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau to open an investigation into whether their radio and television station affiliates have aired commercial advertisements. 

Yesterday, the new FCC Chairman Brendan Carr sent a letter to NPR and PBS announcing that he has asked the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau to launch an investigation into their advertising practices – suggesting without specifics that these entities had gone beyond the permitted underwriting announcements by airing prohibited advertisements for commercial products and services (Commissioner Starks and Gomez issued statements questioning the basis for this investigation). 

Washington DC is not the only place where there are regulatory or political decisions made that affect broadcasters and advertising for candidates or political issues.  We’ve written many times about state laws that govern the use of AI in political advertising, with more than 20 states already having laws on their books and more considering such legislation in legislative sessions this year (see our articles here and here). 

Mitchell Stabbe, our resident trademark law specialist, today takes his annual look at the legal issues in Super Bowl advertising and promotions (see some of his past articles here, here, and here).  Take it away, Mitch:  
As a life-long fan of the Baltimore Ravens (the life of the Ravens, not my life),

While the new Republican-led FCC will no doubt tackle many policy issues in the upcoming months (see our article looking at some of the issues that we expect the FCC will address this year), there are also standard dates and deadlines in February to which broadcasters still need to pay attention. Here are some of those dates:
February 3 (as February 1 is a Saturday) is the deadline for radio and television station employment units in Arkansas,

Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.

• President Trump issued several Executive Orders that could affect FCC decision-making, including an Executive Order suspending government diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives;