Prompted by Senator Sam Brownback's (R-KS) proposal that the Senate Judiciary Committee consider the Internet Radio Equality Act, Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-RI) and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) today expressed support for the notion that Internet radio royalties should be fair, and that the Committee should soon consider all types of radio royalties to recording artists and labels.

Senator Brownback's amendment was identical to the Internet Radio Equality Act (IREA), which he introduced last year with Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR).  The IREA would provide royalty rate parity and thereby ensure fair royalties to artists while enhancing competition between Internet, satellite and cable radio.

Jonathan Potter, Executive Director of the Digital Media Association, offered this statement:

“DiMA appreciates Senator Brownback’s continued leadership and commitment to a healthy business environment where webcasters can deliver diverse music experiences to consumers, and pay fair royalties to artists while also exposing tens of thousands of artists who are never heard on broadcast radio.  We also thank Chairman Leahy for his support of future consideration of IREA issues, and we applaud Senator Feinstein’s call for radio platform parity.”

It has been a frustrating year since the Copyright Royalty Board established astoundingly high royalty rates for webcasters. Months of negotiation with SoundExchange have yielded little progress – SoundExchange’s latest offer just days ago would require webcasters to pay many multiples of what cable and satellite radio currently pay, an outcome that many webcasters view as simply unacceptable.

Webcasters nationwide are frustrated that they cannot innovate and compete effectively against competitors or more importantly, against piracy.  Webcasters’ difficulty negotiating a fair royalty with SoundExchange underscores the importance of legislative reform.

We look forward to working with Sen. Brownback, Chairman Leahy, Sen. Wyden and Sen. Feinstein, and other leaders in Congress who support fair compensation to artists and fair competition among radio programmers.”