I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 861 
To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide fair treatment of radio 
stations and artists for the use of sound recordings, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 31, 2025 
Mr. ISSA (for himself, Mr. NADLER, Mr. GREEN of Tennessee, Mr. MCCLIN-
TOCK, and Mr. LIEU) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide fair treat-
ment of radio stations and artists for the use of sound 
recordings, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘American Music Fairness Act of 2025’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Equitable treatment for terrestrial broadcasts and internet services. 
Sec. 3. Timing of proceedings under sections 112(e) and 114(f). 
Sec. 4. Special protection for small broadcasters. 
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Sec. 5. Distribution of certain royalties. 
Sec. 6. No harmful effects on songwriters. 
Sec. 7. Value of promotion taken into account. 
SEC. 
2. 
EQUITABLE 
TREATMENT 
FOR 
TERRESTRIAL 
BROADCASTS AND INTERNET SERVICES. 
(a) PERFORMANCE RIGHT APPLICABLE TO AUDIO 
TRANSMISSIONS GENERALLY.—Paragraph (6) of section 
106 of title 17, United States Code, is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(6) in the case of sound recordings, to perform 
the copyrighted work publicly by means of an audio 
transmission.’’. 
(b) INCLUSION OF TERRESTRIAL BROADCASTS IN 
EXISTING PERFORMANCE RIGHT AND STATUTORY LI-
CENSE.—Section 114(d)(1) of title 17, United States 
Code, is amended— 
(1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 
by striking ‘‘a digital’’ and inserting ‘‘an’’; 
(2) by striking subparagraph (A); 
(3) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and 
(C) as (A) and (B), respectively; and 
(4) in subparagraph (A), as redesignated by 
paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘nonsubscription’’ each 
place such term appears and inserting ‘‘licensed non-
subscription’’. 
(c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
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(1) DEFINITION.—Section 101 of title 17, 
United States Code, is amended by inserting after 
the definition of ‘‘architectural work’’ the following: 
‘‘An ‘audio transmission’ is a transmission of a sound 
recording, whether in a digital, analog, or other format. 
This term does not include the transmission of any audio-
visual work.’’. 
(2) CONFORMING REMOVAL OF DIGITAL.—Title 
17, United States Code, is amended— 
(A) in section 112(e)(8), by striking ‘‘a 
digital audio transmission’’ and inserting ‘‘an 
audio transmission’’; 
(B) in section 114— 
(i) in subsection (d)— 
(I) in paragraph (2)— 
(aa) in the matter preceding 
subparagraph (A), by striking 
‘‘subscription digital’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘subscription’’; and 
(bb) 
in 
subparagraph 
(C)(viii), by striking ‘‘digital sig-
nal’’ and inserting ‘‘signal’’; and 
(II) in paragraph (4)— 
(aa) in subparagraph (A), 
by striking ‘‘a digital audio 
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transmission’’ and inserting ‘‘an 
audio transmission’’; and 
(bb) in subparagraph (B)(i), 
by striking ‘‘a digital audio 
transmission’’ and inserting ‘‘an 
audio transmission’’; 
(ii) in subsection (g)(2)(A), by strik-
ing ‘‘a digital’’ and inserting ‘‘an’’; and 
(iii) in subsection (j)— 
(I) in paragraph (6)— 
(aa) by striking ‘‘digital’’; 
and 
(bb) by striking ‘‘retrans-
missions 
of 
broadcast 
trans-
missions’’ and inserting ‘‘broad-
cast transmissions and retrans-
missions 
of 
broadcast 
trans-
missions’’; and 
(II) in paragraph (8), by striking 
‘‘subscription digital’’ and inserting 
‘‘subscription’’; and 
(C) in section 1401— 
(i) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘a 
digital audio’’ and inserting ‘‘an audio’’; 
and 
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(ii) in subsection (d)— 
(I) in paragraph (1), by striking 
‘‘a digital audio’’ and inserting ‘‘an 
audio’’; 
(II) in paragraph (2)(A), by 
striking ‘‘a digital audio’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘an audio’’; and 
(III) in paragraph (4)(A), by 
striking ‘‘a digital audio’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘an audio’’. 
SEC. 3. TIMING OF PROCEEDINGS UNDER SECTIONS 112(e) 
AND 114(f). 
Paragraph (3) of section 804(b) of title 17, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subparagraph: 
‘‘(D) A proceeding under this chapter shall 
be commenced as soon as practicable after the 
date of the enactment of this subparagraph to 
determine royalty rates and terms for non-
subscription broadcast transmissions, to be ef-
fective for the period beginning on such date of 
enactment, and ending on December 31, 2028. 
Any payment due under section 114(f)(1)(D) 
shall not be due until the due date of the first 
royalty payments for nonsubscription broadcast 
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transmissions that are determined, after the 
date of the enactment of this subparagraph, by 
the Copyright Royalty Judges. Thereafter, such 
proceeding shall be repeated in each subsequent 
fifth calendar year.’’. 
SEC. 4. SPECIAL PROTECTION FOR SMALL BROADCASTERS. 
(a) SPECIFIED ROYALTY FEES.—Section 114(f)(1) 
of title 17, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
at the end the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(D)(i) Notwithstanding the provisions of 
subparagraphs (A) through (C), the royalty 
rate shall be as follows for nonsubscription 
broadcast transmissions by each individual ter-
restrial broadcast station licensed as such by 
the Federal Communications Commission that 
satisfies the conditions in clause (ii)— 
‘‘(I) $10 per calendar year, in the 
case of nonsubscription broadcast trans-
missions by a broadcast station that gen-
erated revenue in the immediately pre-
ceding 
calendar 
year 
of 
less 
than 
$100,000; 
‘‘(II) $100 per calendar year, in the 
case of nonsubscription broadcast trans-
missions by a broadcast station that is a 
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public broadcasting entity as defined in 
section 118(f) and generated revenue in 
the immediately preceding calendar year of 
$100,000 
or 
more, 
but 
less 
than 
$1,500,000; and 
‘‘(III) $500 per calendar year, in the 
case of nonsubscription broadcast trans-
missions by a broadcast station that is not 
a public broadcasting entity as defined in 
section 118(f) and generated revenue in 
the immediately preceding calendar year of 
$100,000 
or 
more, 
but 
less 
than 
$1,500,000. 
‘‘(ii) An individual terrestrial broadcast 
station licensed as such by the Federal Commu-
nications Commission is eligible for a royalty 
rate set forth in clause (i) if— 
‘‘(I) the revenue from the operation of 
that individual station was less than 
$1,500,000 during the immediately pre-
ceding calendar year; 
‘‘(II) the aggregate revenue of the 
owner and operator of the broadcast sta-
tion and any person directly or indirectly 
controlling, controlled by, or under com-
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mon control with such owner or operator, 
from 
any 
source, 
was 
less 
than 
$10,000,000 during the immediately pre-
ceding calendar year; and 
‘‘(III) the owner or operator of the 
broadcast station provides to the nonprofit 
collective designated by the Copyright Roy-
alty Judges to distribute receipts from the 
licensing of transmissions in accordance 
with subsection (f), by no later than Janu-
ary 31 of the relevant calendar year, a 
written and signed certification of the sta-
tion’s eligibility under this clause and the 
applicable subclause of clause (i), in ac-
cordance with requirements the Copyright 
Royalty Judges shall prescribe by regula-
tion. 
‘‘(iii) For purposes of clauses (i) and (ii)— 
‘‘(I) revenue shall be calculated in ac-
cordance with generally accepted account-
ing principles; 
‘‘(II) revenue generated by a terres-
trial broadcast station shall include all rev-
enue from the operation of the station, 
from any source; and 
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‘‘(III) in the case of affiliated broad-
cast stations, revenue shall be allocated 
reasonably to individual stations associated 
with the revenue. 
‘‘(iv) The royalty rates specified in clause 
(i) shall not be admissible as evidence or other-
wise taken into account in determining royalty 
rates in a proceeding under chapter 8, or in any 
other administrative, judicial, or other Federal 
Government proceeding involving the setting or 
adjustment of the royalties payable for the pub-
lic performance or reproduction in ephemeral 
phonorecords or copies of sound recordings, the 
determination of terms or conditions related 
thereto, or the establishment of notice or rec-
ordkeeping requirements.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section 118(f) of 
title 17, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘sec-
tion 397 of title 47’’ and inserting ‘‘section 397 of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 397)’’. 
SEC. 5. DISTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN ROYALTIES. 
Section 114(g) of title 17, United States Code, is 
amended— 
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(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or in the 
case of a transmission to which paragraph (5) ap-
plies’’ after ‘‘this section’’; 
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (5), (6), and 
(7) as (6), (7), and (8), respectively; and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(5) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), to the ex-
tent that a license granted by the copyright owner 
of a sound recording to a transmitting entity eligible 
for a statutory license under subsection (d)(2) ex-
tends to such entity’s transmissions otherwise licens-
able under a statutory license in accordance with 
subsection (f), such entity shall pay to the collective 
designated to distribute statutory licensing receipts 
from the licensing of transmissions in accordance 
with subsection (f), 50 percent of the total royalties 
that such entity is required, pursuant to the applica-
ble license agreement, to pay for such transmissions 
otherwise licensable under a statutory license in ac-
cordance with subsection (f). That collective shall 
distribute such payments in proportion to the dis-
tributions provided in subparagraphs (B) through 
(D) of paragraph (2), and such payments shall be 
the only payments to which featured and nonfea-
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tured artists are entitled by virtue of such trans-
missions under the direct license with such entity.’’. 
SEC. 6. NO HARMFUL EFFECTS ON SONGWRITERS. 
Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this 
Act, shall adversely affect in any respect the public per-
formance rights of or royalties payable to songwriters or 
copyright owners of musical works. 
SEC. 7. VALUE OF PROMOTION TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT. 
Pursuant to section 114(f)(1)(B) of title 17, United 
States Code, in determining rates and terms for terrestrial 
broadcast radio stations under this Act, and the amend-
ments made by this Act, the Copyright Royalty Judges 
shall base their decision on economic, competitive, and 
programming information presented by the parties, includ-
ing whether use of the station’s service may substitute for 
or may promote the sales of phonorecords or otherwise 
may interfere with or may enhance the sound recording 
copyright owner’s other streams of revenue from the copy-
right owner’s sound recordings. 
Æ 
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