MusicFIRST Touts Endorsements for Fair Play Fair Pay Act

MusicFIRST heralded recent endorsements of the Fair Play Fair Pay Act (HR-1733) from the AFL-CIO, Americans for Tax Reform and the Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) as proof that the bill has bipartisan support in Congress. Terrestrial and digital broadcasters, including NAB, are strongly opposing the bill (see 1504100044). The Free State Foundation endorsed HR-1733 Wednesday, with Senior Fellow Seth Cooper saying in a blog post that Congress should “give this legislation a prompt fair hearing.” The AFL-CIO endorsed the bill shortly after its introduction Monday, saying in a blog post that “a performance right is not a tax.” CFIF said in a blog post that HR-1733 “offers a corrective to years of unfairness in the industry, and it’s something that conservatives, libertarians and anyone who values property rights should support.” MusicFIRST Executive Director Ted Kalo said in a news release that “few issues have the power to unite principled observers from such different viewpoints as the twin pillars of economic fairness and free competition that lie at the core of this bill.”