Issa Wants Fair Play Fair Pay Act as 'Must-Include' House Judiciary Copyright Priority
House IP Subcommittee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., committed Wednesday to strongly urging House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., to include the Fair Play Fair Pay Act (HR-1733) among his top copyright legislative priorities, telling us he wants to make sure HR-1733 is “considered as a must-include” bill. Goodlatte is expected to soon identify which parts of the House Judiciary's Copyright Act review he believes have sufficient consensus support to warrant becoming a legislative priority (see 1604260062). Issa said during a musicFIRST Coalition news conference that a copyright revamp must "tear out legacy provisions that stop creators from getting fair compensation." MusicFIRST members met with Goodlatte, Issa and 28 other House Judiciary and Senate Judiciary Committee members Wednesday to lobby in favor of HR-1733 and other music licensing issues.
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Music licensing issues are likely to be one of Goodlatte's priorities for copyright legislation, but it's unlikely that a push from Issa and other IP-focused House Judiciary members will specifically influence Goodlatte's thinking on HR-1733, some industry lobbyists told us. HR-1733 would require most terrestrial radio stations to begin paying performance royalties and would require digital broadcasters to begin paying royalties for pre-1972 sound recordings. Though the music industry coalesced in support of HR-1733 since the bill's introduction last year, NAB's opposition to it remains strong.
Issa and House Judiciary ranking member John Conyers, D-Mich., joined HR-1733's main sponsors and musicFIRST members Wednesday to support the measure. The bill will “harmonize and modernize outdated rules that have too long governed” the U.S. music licensing system, Conyers said during the news conference. If Issa, Conyers, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., “and I are all singing the same tune [on HR-1733], I firmly believe we are on the path to success,” House IP ranking member Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said during the news conference. Blackburn and Nadler jointly introduced HR-1733 last year (see 1504130056 and 1504160050).
Goodlatte has “been supportive of [HR-1733] as something that needs to be considered” but it's now critical that the bill become a key part of House Judiciary's copyright legislative package, Issa told us. Terrestrial broadcasters are among those pushing House Judiciary to enact a Copyright Act revamp but “cleaning up the slate must include dealing with” pre-1972 terrestrial royalty rights, he said. Prioritizing HR-1733 is important in part because broadcasters are pushing for reforms related to their burgeoning streaming businesses, Issa said.
Goodlatte's thinking on how he'll prioritize HR-1733 and other copyright issues remains unknown to even some of his House Judiciary colleagues and industry officials. “I wish I knew” what Goodlatte was thinking on his copyright priorities, Conyers told us. “I have a feeling that he is going to be supportive” of HR-1733. “I'm optimistic.” Goodlatte's staff is keeping his priorities “very close to the vest right now and we just don't know yet,” RIAA CEO Cary Sherman told us. “We'll probably find out when everyone else does” and will push strongly for HR-1733 in the meantime.
Issa's support for HR-1733 is a clear indication the music industry broadly supports the bill, but NAB's continued success in signing on members of Congress as co-sponsors of the Local Radio Freedom Act (House Concurrent Resolution 17/Senate Concurrent Resolution 4) shows the state of play on HR-1733 “hasn't really changed a lot since last year,” an industry lobbyist said. The resolution opposes new performance fees, taxes, royalties or other charges on local broadcast radio stations. NAB said Tuesday that H.Con.Res. 17/S.Con.Res. 4 has 230 House co-sponsors and 26 Senate co-sponsors. Strong NAB opposition to terrestrial performance royalty legislation could be enough to indicate to Goodlatte “there's not enough of a widespread consensus” on such legislation to make it a priority, the industry lobbyist told us. MusicFIRST countered NAB's claims about united broadcaster opposition to HR-1733 and the terrestrial performance royalty right, announcing endorsements of the bill from the Alliance for Community Media and multiple independent radio broadcasters.
Issa “tends to be a forceful person who seems to have an ability to get things done, but I don't know how much it's going to pull back people who have signed on to” H.Con.Res. 17/S.Con.Res. 4, said Fletcher Heald copyright and music licensing lawyer Kevin Goldberg. “I think it changes the dynamic but I don't know that it will change the result.” Supporters and opponents of a terrestrial performance royalty right both “have strong positions and I don't see that changing any time soon.” Music licensing issues generally appear to be a strong candidate to be a copyright legislative priority, but House Judiciary's Copyright Act review has tackled “a lot of big issues,” Goldberg said. “There are a lot of important things being explored here and it's not clear which of them is going to take priority.”