Newberry, Sheila E To Speak At Hearing On Performance Rights Act
WASHINGTON -- July 30, 2009: The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday on the Performance Rights Act, which would impose performance royalties on broadcast radio, with NAB Joint Board Chair and Commonwealth Broadcasting President/CEO Steve Newberry scheduled to testify. Also on the witness list are recording artist Sheila E, speaking on behalf of pro-royalties lobbying group the MusicFirst Coalition; NABOB Exec. Director Jim Winston; Rounder Records owner Marian Leighton-Levy; RealNetworks EVP Bob Kimball; and Ralph Oman, an adjunct professor at George Washington University Law School.
Newberry earlier spoke against the House version of the PRA at a House Judiciary Committee hearing. The House committee approved the PRA after that hearing, but a resolution opposing the royalties, the Local Radio Freedom Act, has since gained the backing of a significant majority of House members. The Senate version of the Local Radio Freedom Act has 23 co-sponsors.
Senate Judiciary Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is, like House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI), a strong proponent of performance royalties.
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