Legislative Update - October 2006

Congress Recesses in November Without Passing Copyright Related Legislation

The 109th Congress recessed for the November election without enacting into law any legislation related to copyright. The NMPA-spearheaded SIRA legislation that had been the product of two years of negotiations, Congressional hearings and meetings, as well as a determined ASCAP grass roots effort to help, was approved by the House Intellectual Property Subcommittee. However, it failed to be acted upon by the full House Judiciary Committee as a result of strong last minute objections from the National Association of Broadcasters.

We did have one victory that was important to creators, which was a tax measure allowing the sale of catalogues to be taxed at capital gains rates. ASCAP, along with other songwriter organizations, had supported passage of this tax measure.

Other legislation, such as bills involving orphan works, broadcast and audio flag, taxation at fair market value of donated copyrighted works, were all left unfinished. While there is always a chance that some of this unfinished business could be addressed in Congress' lame duck session set to begin on November 13, these sessions historically have been highly unpredictable. So, the greater likelihood is that those copyright matters that were not enacted in this Congress will be on the agenda of the 110th Congress that will be sworn in during January of 2007.