Washington, DC - May 13, 2009 - The House Judiciary Committee passed H.R. 848, the Performance Rights Act, by a vote of 21 to 9. This bill will remove the exemption from paying a copyright performance fee on music that terrestrial radio stations currently enjoy.

Voting against the bill were House Judiciary Committee Members Maxine Waters (CA), Lamar Smith (TX), Howard Coble (NC), Dan Lungren (CA), Louie Gohmert (TX), Jim Jordan (OH), Ted Poe (TX), Jason Chaffetz (UT) and Gregg Harper (MS).

The NAB has been pushing opposing legislation. A bipartisan group of 192 House lawmakers already support the Local Radio Freedom Act. The Local Radio Freedom Act (H. Con. Res. 49) was introduced by Reps. Gene Green (TX) and Mike Conaway (TX). In March, an identical resolution was introduced in the Senate (S. Con. Res. 14) by Sens. Blanche Lincoln (AR) and John Barrasso (WY).

The bill passed by the House Judiciary Committee will be passed to the House for its next action.