1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Ask Musicians for Music Act of 2019”.
Ask Musicians for Music Act of 2019
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.
2. Transmission consent for terrestrial broadcasts
Right applicable To transmissions generally— Section 106(6) of title 17, United States Code, is amended by striking “a digital” and inserting “an”.
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)”.
3. Small broadcasters; public and educational radio; payments
Small broadcasters—
Definition—
In general— In this subsection, the term small broadcaster means a radio station with revenues in a 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.
Affiliates— For the purposes of calculating revenues under subparagraph (A) with respect to affiliated broadcast stations of a radio station described in that subparagraph, revenues shall be allocated reasonably to individual stations that are associated with those revenues.
Amount of payment— With respect to an effort 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), if the radio station seeking that authority is a small broadcaster, the small broadcaster shall make a payment of $500 per year to obtain that authority.
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—
licensed by the Federal Communications Commission as an individual terrestrial broadcast station; and
a public broadcasting entity, as that term is defined in section 118(f) of title 17, United States Code.
Payments— A payment made under subsection (a) or (b) shall be directed to the nonprofit collective designated by the Copyright Royalty Judges to distribute receipts from the licensing of transmissions in accordance with section 114(f) of title 17, United States Code, and that collective shall distribute that payment in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 114(g) of that title.
4. Conforming amendments
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, through which sounds are received beyond the location from which the sounds are sent. An audio transmission does not include the transmission of any audiovisual work.”
Other conforming amendments— Title 17, United States Code, is amended—
in section 112(e)(8), by striking “a digital audio transmission” and inserting “an audio transmission”;
in section 114—
in subsection (d)—
in paragraph (1)—
in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking “a digital” and inserting “an”; and
in subparagraph (B)—
by striking clauses (i) and (iii);
by redesignating clauses (ii) and (iv) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively; and
in clause (ii), as so redesignated, by striking “retransmission, whether or not simultaneous, is a” and inserting “retransmission is a non-simultaneous,”;
in paragraph (2)—
in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking “subscription digital” and inserting “subscription”; and
in subparagraph (C)(viii), by striking “digital signal” and inserting “signal”; and
in paragraph (4)—
in subparagraph (A), by striking “a digital audio transmission” and inserting “an audio transmission”; and
in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking “a digital audio transmission” and inserting “an audio transmission”;
in subsection (g)(2)(A), by striking “a digital” and inserting “an”; and
in subsection (j)—
in paragraph (6)—
by striking “digital”; and
by striking “retransmissions of broadcast transmissions” and inserting “broadcast transmissions and retransmissions of broadcast transmissions”; and
in paragraph (8), by striking “subscription digital” and inserting “subscription”; and
in section 1401(b), in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking “a digital” and inserting “an”.