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Greetings,
First of all, let me
welcome you to Friends of AFM and thank you for your interest in
issues affecting musicians, the music industry and the arts.
AFM, the American Federation of Musicians, is an AFL-CIO
affiliated labor union representing the interests of the
professional musicians. AFM is the largest organization
representing professional musicians in the country, with nearly
90,000 members in the United
States and Canada. Below is a
summary of some of the issues that AFM is working on.
AFM is working closely with its allies in
the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the creative
community to advance issues affecting music and musicians. These
issues include securing a performance right on sound recordings
broadcast over AM/FM terrestrial radio, creating a national
policy for musicians seeking to carry their instruments on
airplanes, protecting wireless microphone use and ensuring
network neutrality.
The Performance Rights Act (H.R. 848 and
S. 379) guarantees that a performance right will be paid to
musicians on sound recordings aired over terrestrial AM/FM
radio. Both of these bills were reintroduced early in 2009. In
May the House Judiciary Committee approved H.R. 848. The next
step in the House of Representatives is for the bill to be
considered by the full Chamber. AFM and the musicFIRST Coalition
have been effectively responding to the National Association of
Broadcasters’ (NAB) attempts to derail the progress of the
Performance Rights Act. AFM and the musicFIRST Coalition have
held Town Hall meetings in Atlanta, Detroit and Houston in order to defend
Representatives who support the Performance Rights Act. These
events have garnered favorable press coverage and have proven
very successful. The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to
take up the Performance Rights Act this summer, as Senator Leahy
(D-VT), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has said
that the bill is one of his top priorities.
Last year, AFM was successful in getting
a provision in the Senate FAA reauthorization bill which
restates Delta Airline’s policy regarding carry-on musical
instruments. Delta’s policy allows any instrument to be
carried on board that can fit in an overhead bin. That provision
is in this year’s Senate bill as well. The House of
Representatives has passed its FAA reauthorization bill. It
allows for musical instruments to be carried on airplanes, but
the language is not as favorable as the Senate bill. When the
two bills are passed and the House and Senate meet to resolve
the differences in the bills, AFM will lobby in favor of the
Senate language.
The American Federation of Musicians is
working with other members of the creative community to see that
wireless microphones are protected from mobile, handheld,
Internet devices operating on adjacent frequencies. The FCC, in
late 2008, opened up the “white spaces” – the
frequencies between television channels that wireless
microphones operate on – to mobile, handheld, Internet
devices. AFM believes that these new devices will be extremely
beneficial in expanding Internet access and AFM is excited to
see that the FCC opened the “white spaces” to these
new devices. However, AFM believes that wireless microphones can
and must be protected from interference. These devices could
potentially interfere with the wireless microphones used in
concert halls and theaters. AFM is working with Congress and the
FCC to see that interference does not occur and that wireless
microphones are protected.
Finally, AFM is working to guarantee that
the Internet remains open and neutral, while seeing that
copyrighted material traversing the network remains protected.
AFM believes that network neutrality is necessary in order for
the Internet to remain a potent tool for musicians. However, AFM
believes that any piece of legislation or regulation pertaining
to network neutrality must include specific, stringent and
concrete protections for copyrighted works. AFM recently
released a letter stating its position to the House of
Representatives and the Senate. AFM is working with Congress and
its allies in the creative community to see that these
protections are integrated into potential network neutrality
bills and policies.
AFM will continue throughout the second
half of 2009 to see that its legislative goals are achieved.
Once again, thank you for joining Friends of AFM. The response
we have received tells us that a lot of people care about music
and the people who create it.
Best regards,
Hal Ponder, Director of Government Relations
American Federation of Musicians
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