H.R.5219 - Ask Musicians For Music Act of 2019 116th Congress (2019-2020)

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

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.

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”.