More than 100 music creators from around the country converged on Capitol Hill for the Recording Academy’s annual GRAMMYs on the Hill Advocacy Day, the music community’s largest annual advocacy day. Music creators visited with lawmakers and brought music issues to the frontlines in an attempt to help Congress gain a better understand of how these issues impact not only the music they know and love, but music creators nationwide, including in their hometowns.
Last night, at the GRAMMYs on The Hill Awards, artists were very cognizant of the impact texisting copyright laws have on their craft. Composer Jonathan Wolff ((Seinfeld, Will & Grace) told Access Granted Journal, “The copyright laws when they were written, served well, but the landscape has changed so drastically that copyrights laws as they are now, can become a patch quilt of band aids. It needs to be re-written to address the delivery systems that we have now.”
During the visit, Rep. Nancy Pelosi(D-CA) met with John Popper, Jordan Popper, Martina McBride, and President of National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Neil Portnow.
Bills music creators planned for discussion with lawmakers included the Fair Play Fair Pay Act, which seeks to reform music licensing for sound recordings in a logical, comprehensive way and close current corporate radio loopholes, as well as the Allocation for Music Producers Act (AMP Act), which includes producers in copyright law for the first time.
Access Granted Journal 