Title: Ask Musicians For Music Act of 2019
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
Ask Musicians For Music Act of 2019
This bill establishes that the copyright owner of a sound recording has the exclusive right to perform the recording through an audio transmission. Currently, the copyright owner's performance right generally only covers digital audio transmission, which excludes certain terrestrial radio stations.
A radio station must obtain express permission from the copyright owner of the sound recording before making such a transmission, unless the transmission consists of a religious assembly or incidental use of the recording.
A radio station with revenues of less than $1 million per year shall be deemed to have obtained permission by paying $500 per year to the copyright owner. A public broadcast entity or individual terrestrial broadcast station shall pay no more than $100 per year to obtain permission from the copyright owner.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5219 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5219

   To amend title 17, United States Code, to require broadcasters to 
obtain permission to transmit content owned by another person, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 21, 2019

  Mr. Nadler introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 17, United States Code, to require broadcasters to 
obtain permission to transmit content owned by another person, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Ask Musicians For Music Act of 
2019''.

SEC. 2. TRANSMISSION CONSENT FOR TERRESTRIAL BROADCASTS.

    (a) Right Applicable to Transmissions Generally.--Section 106(6) of 
title 17, United States Code, is amended by striking ``a digital'' and 
inserting ``an''.
    (b) Transmission Consent.--Section 114(d)(1)(A) of title 17, United 
States Code, is amended by adding after ``transmission'' the following: 
``, except that, in the case of a transmission made by a radio station, 
the radio station shall obtain the express authority of the copyright 
owner of that sound recording for any such transmission (unless the 
transmission consists of services at a place of worship (or at another 
religious assembly) or incidental uses of a musical work)''.

SEC. 3. SMALL BROADCASTERS; PUBLIC AND EDUCATIONAL RADIO.

    (a) Small Broadcasters.--
            (1) In general.--Consent required under section 2 shall be 
        deemed satisfied by the payment of $500 per year by any radio 
        station with revenues in that year of less than $1,000,000, 
        including all revenues arising from or relating to the 
        operation of the station, as calculated in accordance with 
        generally accepted accounting principles in the United States.
            (2) Affiliates.--For the purposes of calculating revenues 
        under paragraph (1) with respect to affiliated broadcast 
        stations, revenues shall be allocated reasonably to individual 
        stations that are associated with those revenues.
    (b) Public Broadcasters, College Radio, and Other Noncommercial 
Stations.--Any negotiation to obtain the express authority of a 
copyright owner that is required with respect to a transmission made by 
a radio station under section 114(d)(1)(A) of title 17, United States 
Code, as amended by section 2(b), may not result in the payment of 
compensation in an amount that is more than $100 per year by any 
individual terrestrial broadcast station that is--
            (1) licensed by the Federal Communications Commission as an 
        individual terrestrial broadcast station; and
            (2) a public broadcasting entity, as that term is defined 
        in section 118(f) of title 17, United States Code.
    (c) Designated Agent.--Payments made pursuant to subsections (a) 
and (b) shall be directed to the agent designated to distribute 
receipts from the licensing of digital transmissions in accordance with 
section 114(f) of title 17 and used to defray administrative costs as 
described in section 114(g)(3)(A) of title 17.

SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Definition.--Section 101 of title 17, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to ``architectural work'' 
the following:
    ``An `audio transmission' is the communication of a sound 
recording, whether in digital, analog, or other format, whereby sounds 
are received beyond the place from which they are sent. An audio 
transmission does not include the transmission of any audiovisual 
work.''.
    (b) Other Conforming Amendments.--Title 17, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in section 112(e)(8), by striking ``a digital audio 
        transmission'' and inserting ``an audio transmission'';
            (2) in section 114--
                    (A) in subsection (d)--
                            (i) in paragraph (1)--
                                    (I) in the matter preceding 
                                subparagraph (A), by striking ``a 
                                digital'' and inserting ``an''; and
                                    (II) in subparagraph (B)--
                                            (aa) by striking clauses 
                                        (i) and (iii);
                                            (bb) by redesignating 
                                        clauses (ii) and (iv) as 
                                        clauses (i) and (ii), 
                                        respectively; and
                                            (cc) in clause (ii), as so 
                                        redesignated, by striking 
                                        ``retransmission, whether or 
                                        not simultaneous, is a'' and 
                                        inserting ``retransmission is a 
                                        non-simultaneous,'';
                            (ii) in paragraph (2)--
                                    (I) in the matter preceding 
                                subparagraph (A), by striking 
                                ``subscription digital'' and inserting 
                                ``subscription''; and
                                    (II) in subparagraph (C)(viii), by 
                                striking ``digital signal'' and 
                                inserting ``signal''; and
                            (iii) in paragraph (4)--
                                    (I) in subparagraph (A), by 
                                striking ``a digital audio 
                                transmission'' and inserting ``an audio 
                                transmission''; and
                                    (II) in subparagraph (B)(i), by 
                                striking ``a digital audio 
                                transmission'' and inserting ``an audio 
                                transmission'';
                    (B) in subsection (g)(2)(A), by striking ``a 
                digital'' and inserting ``an''; and
                    (C) in subsection (j)--
                            (i) in paragraph (6)--
                                    (I) by striking ``digital''; and
                                    (II) by striking ``retransmissions 
                                of broadcast transmissions'' and 
                                inserting ``broadcast transmissions and 
                                retransmissions of broadcast 
                                transmissions''; and
                            (ii) in paragraph (8), by striking 
                        ``subscription digital'' and inserting 
                        ``subscription''; and
            (3) in section 1401(b), in the matter preceding paragraph 
        (1), by striking ``a digital'' and inserting ``an''.
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