Evening star., 1926-04-11
RADIO COPYRIGHT LEGISLATION
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

so anxious is Congress to arrive at
some acceptable solution of the copy
right problem as applied to radio
broadcasting of musical compositions
kthat joint hearings of the patent COM
mittees OF the House and Senate have
just been concluded on the bin intro
duced by Representative Vestal Of In.
diana, in the House. and Senator Dill
of Washington, In the Senate. The
bill fixes royalty rates for the authors
of music which is used for broadcast
| ing, but in its present form will apply
only to new compositions. which are
| copyrighted after the passage OF the
act. Previous compositions Will ac'
quire no royalty rights.
The holding of joint Senate and
| House committee hearings Is an ex'
ceptional event, and indicates how
earnestly the members desire to work
out solutions to the many legal prop
lens which the invention of the radio
has created. Several bills have previ-
ously been considered for the protec-
ton OF authors whose compositions
are used for broadcasting. Senator
! Dill. who has studied the question for
some years, was originally OF a mind
to oppose any royalties to composers
| He took the position in an earlier Dill
proposed by him that since the radio
programs were all free, and the mu'
siciaus received no compensation tor
| the entertainment, the authors snouid
also donate their works, and the re-
ceiving public get the full benent OF
entirely free performances.
Radio Owners Approve Plan.
This idea was very popular with the
owners of radio sets, who, or course,
I do not pay for the programs they hear
and who look aSkance at any plan
which is likely to limit the entertain
ment value Of their sets. Time, now
ever, is working out many radio ques-
tions, and already condition exists
under which the performers on many,
| IL not most, of the programs are paid.
This condition strengthens the claim
of the composers that they are en-
titled to some royalty. If their songs
and instrumental music are rendered
! in a theater by paid performers the
composers receive q royalty. They
feel they should have similar rights II
their productions are rendered for the
much larger radio audiences. The OIL
now before Congress indicates that
Senator Dill and other students or the
ment with this view and are ready,
| further, to amend their ideas as the
development Of the new sicence ad-
| vances.
Freedom of the Air.
The present bill is not without its
| opponents. Many radio users view
with alarm any encroachnnent on the
| freedom Of the air." They are to a
1 tvRw
nothing. but they naturally realize
| that If there were any way to charge
them for the entertainment and col.
ect according to the amount OF enter.
ltainment enjoyed the broadcasters
| would sooner or later affix a charge.
| The owner Of a radio set has a very
| natural suspicion that if some in
ventor could figure out the means of
| doing so, a meter would be attached
| to every radio set, and the owner
would be obliged to drop nickel In
| the slot before he could tune in on
| his favorite program, or adjust his
headpiece or loud speaker to receive
the returns of the ball game, or the
weather report, or his daily dozen" "
The Dill-Vestal bill Is at least step
toward the regulation Of rates on ra-
dio. 1t provides that hereafter the
author of any piece of music, in Sc
curing copyright, would be pro-
ltected on radio as we'll as all other
uses. He would be allowed to specify
at the Patent Office whether he would
allow the use Of his music on the ra-
dio or not. If he allowed its use at
all. it would be available for all broad
casting stations at royalty rates fixed
by law.
Written Records.
Every person broadcasting musical
compositions would be required to
keep a written record Of the music so
used, with dates, and to make settle
ment with the owners Of the copyright
once a month. These records would
be open to the inspection OF authors
Of musical compositions, and, II they
were not paid the legal royalty, they
could bring suit, and the limit OF al.
lowable damages Is fixed by the bill.
The proposed bill would go quite a
way toward meeting the wishes Of the
composers, although it would not give
them the full privilege OF negotiating
royalties, as the royalty rates would
be fixed by law, and the more success
ful compositions would only profit
above the less successful by being
used greater number Of times. The
rate per broadcast would be the same.
| lHlS WOuLu pTOteCL IdulO DAO<b0CdSIcIS u
station owners and the listening pub
lie from any direct or indirect extor.
ton by the author Of any especially
popular music.
The proper legal rate per broadcast
for any piece Of music will probably
be argued at more length in both
Houses of Congress before the bill is
| passed, il 1t should ultimately be
adopted. Authors will. of course,
have the option of donating the use
of their compositions ii they wish to.
The present bill does not so into
the complex question OF what can be
used on the radio, except as to musi-