(MediaBuyerPlanner) According to industry and congressional sources, with satellite radio services now becoming distribution services, a bipartisan group of lawmakers has presented legislation that would require satellite radio companies to compensate copyright holders in the music industry for downloads, writes the Hollywood Reporter.
The PERFORM Act – or the Platform Equality and Remedies for Rights Holders in Music Act of 2006 – would require cable, satellite and internet music providers to pay market value for digital music performance and would require better music theft technology.
“Digital sales are finally replacing physical losses,” said RIAA chairman and CEO Mitch Bainwol. “If someone gets a distribution right without paying for it, that blows a hole in the digital marketplace.” He added, “Competition should be based on the offering. Their license is for a performance, not a distribution.”
Executives in the record industry want so-called “parity” among various download platforms, arguing that XM Radio’s new free-download devices cheat the copyright holder.
Unlike XM, Sirius Satellite Radio has cut deals with record companies to compensate them for downloads on Sirius’s S-50 receiver, which lets customers record content.
