[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 110 (Wednesday, August 10, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 10, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
          REFORM OF MUSIC LICENSING FEES FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

                                 ______


                             HON. JACK REED

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, August 10, 1994

  Mr. REED. Mr. Speaker, today, along with my colleagues Mr. 
Sensenbrenner, Mr. Synar, Mr. Rose, Mr. Gekas, and Mr. Zeliff, I am 
introducing legislation that will help level the playing field between 
small businesses and music licensing organizations.
  Under current law, music licensing organizations such as the American 
Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers [ASCAP], Broadcast Music 
Inc [BMI], and the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers 
[SESAC] are permitted to collect fees from business people who chose to 
play music in their establishments, whether it be from television 
commercial jingles, radio, tapes, or CD's. This applies to restaurants, 
shoe stores--even children singing Christmas carols in shopping 
centers.
  The House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Intellectual Property 
and Judicial Administration held a hearing in February to examine the 
music licensing practices of these societies. One of the witnesses was 
a constituent of mine, John Deion, who owns the Last Call Saloon in 
Providence, RI. Mr. Deion joined other small businessmen who aired 
concerns about the arbitrary nature of the fees, the inability of 
business owners to determine which organization licenses which work, 
and the lack of an adequate forum to resolve fee disputes.
  My legislation addresses their concerns. Specifically, it does the 
following:
  Expands the current exemption for certain radio or television sets. 
This has been the most litigated exemption of the Copyright Act and 
should be clarified to exempt all radios and televisions, provided no 
charge is made to see or hear the transmission.
  Establishes a court-annexed arbitration process for fee disputes. 
Currently, in order to dispute the amount of the fee, a small business 
owner must hire an attorney in the state of New York because that is 
the only place and the only court which hears disputes over music 
licensing fees. Most business cannot afford to do this.
  Requires free on line access to repertoire. Currently, it is 
difficult to determine which organization licenses which work--a 
practice that forces business owners to pay all three groups. 
Individuals should be able to chose to play music from only one music 
licensing group and only pay fees to one organization instead of all 
three.
  Creates a new exemption for nonprofit educational choral groups who 
perform for free.
  I strongly believe artists deserve compensation for the use of their 
works. But I also believe that small business owners deserve to operate 
under a system that is reasonable and fair.

                          ____________________