I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1733 
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 
APRIL 13, 2015 
Mr. NADLER (for himself, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. CONYERS, and Mr. 
DEUTCH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee 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 
‘‘Fair Play Fair Pay Act of 2015’’. 
(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. Ensuring platform parity. 
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Sec. 5. Special Protection for Small Broadcasters, Public and Educational 
Radio, Religious Services, and Incidental Use of Music. 
Sec. 6. Distribution of certain royalties. 
Sec. 7. Equitable treatment of legacy sound recordings. 
Sec. 8. No harmful effects on songwriters. 
Sec. 9. Allocation of Payments to Music Producers. 
Sec. 10. Effective date. 
SEC. 
2. 
EQUITABLE 
TREATMENT 
FOR 
TERRESTRIAL 
BROADCASTS AND INTERNET SERVICES. 
(a) PERFORMANCE RIGHT APPLICABLE TO TRANS-
MISSIONS GENERALLY.—Paragraph (6) of section 106 of 
title 17, United States Code, is amended to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(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’’; and 
(2) in subparagraph (B)— 
(A) by striking clauses (i) and (iii); 
(B) by redesignating clauses (ii) and (iv) 
as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively; 
(C) in clause (i), as so redesignated, by 
adding ‘‘or’’ after ‘‘retransmitter;’’; and 
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(D) in clause (ii), as so redesignated, by 
striking ‘‘retransmission, whether or not simul-
taneous, is a’’ and inserting ‘‘retransmission is 
a non-simultaneous,’’. 
(c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(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 trans-
mission of any audiovisual 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’’; and 
(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 
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(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 
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 
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(II) in paragraph (8), by striking 
‘‘subscription digital’’ and inserting 
‘‘subscription’’. 
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 the Fair Play Fair 
Pay Act of 2015 to determine royalty rates and 
terms for nonsubscription broadcast trans-
missions, to be effective for the period begin-
ning on such date of enactment, and ending on 
December 31, 2020. Any payment due under 
section 114(f)(1)(D) shall not be due until the 
due date of the first royalty payments for non-
subscription broadcast transmissions that are 
determined, after the date of the enactment of 
the Fair Play Fair Pay Act of 2015, by the 
Copyright Royalty Judges. Thereafter, such 
proceeding shall be repeated in each subsequent 
fifth calendar year.’’. 
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SEC. 4. ENSURING PLATFORM PARITY. 
(a) UNIFORM RATE STANDARD.—Section 114(f) of 
title 17, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and in-
serting the following: 
‘‘(1)(A) Proceedings under chapter 8 shall de-
termine reasonable rates and terms of royalty pay-
ments for transmissions subject to statutory licens-
ing under subsection (d)(2) during the 5-year period 
beginning on January 1 of the second year following 
the year in which the proceedings are to be com-
menced pursuant to subparagraph (A) or (B) of sec-
tion 804(b)(3), as the case may be, or such other pe-
riod as the parties may agree. The parties to each 
proceeding shall bear their own costs. 
‘‘(B) The schedule of reasonable rates and 
terms determined by the Copyright Royalty Judges 
shall, subject to paragraph (2), be binding on all 
copyright owners of sound recordings and entities 
performing sound recordings affected by this para-
graph during the 5-year period specified in subpara-
graph (A), or such other period as the parties may 
agree. Such rates and terms shall distinguish among 
the different types of services then in operation and 
shall include a minimum fee for each such type of 
service, such differences to be based on criteria in-
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cluding the quantity and nature of the use of sound 
recordings and the degree to which use of the service 
may substitute for or may promote the purchase of 
phonorecords by consumers. The Copyright Royalty 
Judges shall establish rates and terms that most 
clearly represent the rates and terms that would 
have been negotiated in the marketplace between a 
willing buyer and a willing seller. In determining 
such rates and terms, the Copyright Royalty 
Judges— 
‘‘(i) shall base their decision on economic, 
competitive, and programming information pre-
sented by the parties, including— 
‘‘(I) whether use of the 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 copyright owner’s sound record-
ings; and 
‘‘(II) the relative roles of the copy-
right owner and the transmitting entity in 
the copyrighted work and the service made 
available to the public with respect to rel-
ative creative contribution, technological 
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contribution, capital investment, cost, and 
risk; and 
‘‘(ii) may consider the rates and terms for 
comparable types of audio transmission services 
and comparable circumstances under voluntary 
license agreements. 
‘‘(C) The procedures under subparagraphs (A) 
and (B) shall also be initiated pursuant to a petition 
filed by any copyright owner of sound recordings or 
any transmitting entity indicating that a new type of 
service on which sound recordings are performed is 
or is about to become operational, for the purpose 
of determining reasonable terms and rates of royalty 
payments with respect to such new type of service 
for the period beginning with the inception of such 
new type of service and ending on the date on which 
the royalty rates and terms for eligible nonsubscrip-
tion services and new subscription services, or pre-
existing services, as the case may be, most recently 
determined under subparagraph (A) or (B) and 
chapter 8 expire, or such other period as the parties 
may agree.’’; and 
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), and 
(5) as paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), respectively. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
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‘‘(D)(i) Notwithstanding the provisions of sub-
paragraphs (A) through (C), the royalty rate for 
nonsubscription broadcast transmissions by each in-
dividual terrestrial broadcast station licensed as such 
by the Federal Communications Commission that is 
not a public broadcasting entity as defined in section 
118(f) and that has revenues in any calendar year 
of less than $1,000,000 shall be $500 per year for 
any such year. For purposes of such determination, 
such revenues shall include all revenues from the op-
eration of the station, calculated in accordance with 
generally accepted accounting principles in the 
United States. In the case of affiliated broadcast 
stations, revenues shall be allocated reasonably to in-
dividual stations associated with those revenues.’’. 
(b) SPECIAL PROTECTION
FOR PUBLIC BROAD-
CASTERS, COLLEGE RADIO, AND OTHER NONCOMMER-
CIAL STATIONS.—Subparagraph (D) of section 114(f)(1) 
of title 17, United States Code, as added by subsection 
(a), is amended by inserting at the end the following new 
clauses: 
‘‘(ii) Notwithstanding the provisions of subpara-
graphs (A) through (C), the royalty rate for non-
subscription broadcast transmissions by each indi-
vidual terrestrial broadcast station licensed as such 
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by the Federal Communications Commission that is 
a public broadcasting entity as defined in section 
118(f) shall be $100 per year. 
‘‘(iii) The royalty rates specified in clauses (i) 
and (ii) 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 ad-
ministrative, judicial, or other Federal Government 
proceeding involving the setting or adjustment of the 
royalties payable for the public performance or re-
production in ephemeral phonorecords or copies of 
sound recordings, the determination of terms or con-
ditions related thereto, or the establishment of notice 
or recordkeeping requirements.’’. 
(c) NO ROYALTIES FOR RELIGIOUS SERVICES OR IN-
CIDENTAL USES OF MUSIC.—Section 114(d)(1) of title 
17, United States Code, as amended by section 2(b), is 
further amended by striking subparagraph (A) and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(A) a nonsubscription broadcast trans-
mission of— 
‘‘(i) services at a place of worship or 
other religious assembly; or 
‘‘(ii) an incidental use of a sound re-
cording of a musical work;’’. 
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(d) 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. 6. DISTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN ROYALTIES. 
Section 114(g) of title 17, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or in the 
case of a transmission to which paragraph (5) ap-
plies’’ after ‘‘this section’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following 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 agent 
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-
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cordance with subsection (f). That agent shall dis-
tribute such payments in proportion to the distribu-
tions provided in subparagraphs (B) through (D) of 
paragraph (2), and such payments shall be the sole 
payments to which featured and nonfeatured artists 
are entitled by virtue of such transmissions under 
the direct license with such entity.’’. 
SEC. 7. EQUITABLE TREATMENT OF LEGACY SOUND RE-
CORDINGS. 
(a) PAYMENT FOR USE OF CERTAIN SOUND RE-
CORDINGS.—Section 114(f)(3) of title 17, United States 
Code, as so redesignated, is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(D)(i) Any person publicly performing sound 
recordings protected under this title by means of 
transmissions under a statutory license under this 
section, or making reproductions of such sound re-
cordings under section 112(e), shall make royalty 
payments for transmissions that person makes of 
sound recordings that were fixed before February 
15, 1972, and reproductions that person makes of 
those sound recordings under the circumstances de-
scribed in section 112(e)(1), in the same manner as 
such person does for sound recordings that are pro-
tected under this title. 
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‘‘(ii) If a person fails to make royalty payments 
described in clause (i) for sound recordings fixed be-
fore February 15, 1972, there shall be available, in 
addition to any remedy that may be available under 
the laws of any State, a civil action in an appro-
priate United States district court for recovery lim-
ited to the payments described in clause (i), in addi-
tion to interest, costs, and attorneys’ fees. Any such 
recovery that is obtained shall be offset against any 
recovery for such violation that may be available 
under the laws of any State. 
‘‘(iii) No action may be brought under the laws 
of any State against a transmitting entity alleging 
infringement of a right equivalent to the right grant-
ed in section 106(6) based on a public performance 
of a sound recording fixed before February 15, 
1972, or alleging infringement of a right equivalent 
to the right granted in section 106(1) based on a re-
production of such a sound recording, if— 
‘‘(I) the performance would have been sub-
ject to statutory licensing under subsection 
(d)(2) if the sound recording had been first 
fixed on or after February 15, 1972; 
‘‘(II) the reproduction would have been 
subject to statutory licensing under section 
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112(e)(1) if the sound recording had been first 
fixed on or after February 15, 1972; 
‘‘(III) the transmitting entity has satisfied 
the requirements for statutory licensing under 
subparagraph (B) and section 112(e)(6); and 
‘‘(IV) the applicable royalty was paid and 
accounted for under this subparagraph. 
‘‘(iv) This subparagraph does not confer copy-
right protection under this title upon sound record-
ings that were fixed before February 15, 1972. Such 
sound recordings are subject to the protection avail-
able under the laws of the States, and except as pro-
vided in clause (iii), are not subject to any limitation 
of rights or remedies, or any defense, provided under 
this title. 
‘‘(v) This subparagraph shall have no effect 
with respect to any public performance that is made 
of a sound recording, or reproduction that is made 
of a sound recording under the circumstances de-
scribed in section 112(e)(1), on or after February 
15, 2067.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to performances and reproductions 
of sound recordings occurring on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act. 
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a sound recording of an exclusive or nonexclusive li-
cense of the right under section 106(6) to perform 
the work publicly, a licensee of that sound recording 
may not publicly perform such sound recording un-
less a license has been granted for the public per-
formance of any copyrighted musical work contained 
in the sound recording. Such license to publicly per-
form the copyrighted musical work may be granted 
either by a performing rights society representing 
the copyright owner or by the copyright owner.’’. 
(2) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 
114(d)(3)(C) of title 17, United States Code, is 
hereby repealed. 
(b) PUBLIC PERFORMANCE RIGHTS
AND ROYAL-
TIES.—Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by 
this Act, shall adversely affect in any respect the public 
performance rights of or royalties payable to songwriters 
or copyright owners of musical works. 
(c) PRESERVATION OF ROYALTIES ON UNDERLYING 
WORKS PUBLICLY PERFORMED BY TERRESTRIAL BROAD-
CAST STATIONS.—Section 114(f) of title 17, United States 
Code, as amended by section 4(a), is further amended by 
adding at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of 
this section, under no circumstances shall the rates 
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established by the Copyright Royalty Judges for the 
public performance of sound recordings be cited, 
taken into account, or otherwise used in any admin-
istrative, judicial, or other governmental forum or 
proceeding, or otherwise, to reduce or adversely af-
fect the license fees payable to copyright owners of 
musical works or their representatives for the public 
performance of their works by terrestrial broadcast 
stations, and such license fees for the public per-
formance of musical works shall be independent of 
license fees paid for the public performance of sound 
recordings.’’. 
SEC. 9. ALLOCATION OF PAYMENTS TO MUSIC PRODUCERS. 
(a) LETTER OF DIRECTION.—Section 114(g) of title 
17, United States Code, as amended by section 6, is fur-
ther amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
‘‘(6) LETTER OF DIRECTION.—A collective des-
ignated by the Copyright Royalty Judges to dis-
tribute receipts from the licensing of transmissions 
in accordance with subsection (f) shall adopt and 
reasonably implement a policy that provides, in cir-
cumstances determined by the collective to be appro-
priate, for acceptance of instructions from a payee 
identified in subparagraph (A) or (D) of paragraph 
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(2) to distribute a portion of the payments to which 
the payee otherwise would be entitled from the li-
censing of transmissions of a particular sound re-
cording to a producer, mixer, or sound engineer who 
was part of the creative process that created the 
sound recording (in this section, referred to as a ‘let-
ter of direction’). To the extent that the collective 
accepts a letter of direction, the person entitled to 
payment pursuant to such letter of direction shall, 
during the time such letter of direction is in effect 
and followed by the collective, be treated for all pur-
poses as the owner of the right to receive such pay-
ment. This paragraph shall not be interpreted to 
imply that a collective cannot accept or act upon 
payment instructions in other circumstances.’’. 
(b) ADDITIONAL
PROVISIONS
FOR
RECORDINGS 
FIXED BEFORE NOVEMBER 1, 1995.—Section 114(g) of 
title 17, United States Code, as amended by subsection 
(a), is further amended by adding at the end the following 
new paragraph: 
‘‘(7) SOUND RECORDINGS FIXED BEFORE NO-
VEMBER 1, 1995.— 
‘‘(A) PAYMENT
ABSENT
LETTER
OF
DI-
RECTION.—A collective designated by the Copy-
right Royalty Judges to distribute receipts from 
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the licensing of transmissions in accordance 
with subsection (f) shall adopt and reasonably 
implement a policy that provides, in cir-
cumstances determined by the collective to be 
appropriate, for deduction of 2 percent of the 
receipts from the licensing of transmissions of 
a sound recording fixed before November 1, 
1995, from receipts otherwise payable to the re-
cording artist or artists featured on such sound 
recording (or the persons conveying rights in 
the artists’ performance in the sound record-
ings) pursuant to paragraph (2)(D) (which 
leaves the recording artist or artists featured on 
such sound recording (or the persons conveying 
rights in the artists’ performance in the sound 
recordings) 43 percent of the total receipts paid 
pursuant to paragraph (2)) and distribution of 
such amount to one or more persons described 
in subparagraph (B), after deduction of costs as 
described in paragraph (3) or (4), as applicable, 
if each of the following requirements is met: 
‘‘(i) CERTIFICATION OF ATTEMPT TO 
OBTAIN A LETTER OF DIRECTION.—A per-
son described in subparagraph (B) cer-
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tified to the collective, under penalty of 
perjury, that— 
‘‘(I) for a period of at least 4 
months, that person made reasonable 
efforts to contact the artist payee for 
such sound recording to request and 
obtain a letter of direction instructing 
the collective to pay a portion of the 
royalties from the featured recording 
artist or artists to that person; and 
‘‘(II) during the period beginning 
on the date that person began the rea-
sonable efforts described in subclause 
(I) and ending on date of that per-
son’s certification to the collective, the 
artist payee did not definitively affirm 
or deny the request for a letter of di-
rection. 
‘‘(ii) COLLECTIVE ATTEMPT TO CON-
TACT ARTIST.—After receipt of the certifi-
cation described in clause (i) and for a pe-
riod of at least 4 months before the collec-
tive’s first distribution to the person de-
scribed in subparagraph (B), the collective 
attempted to notify the artist payee of the 
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