Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Re: Justice Department Review of the BMI and ASCAP Consent Decrees
In a call to action, BMI provided a letter, one for songwriters and one for publishers,
to which their signatures could be added. The response was overwhelming. BMI
received nearly 13,000 signatures from writers, composers and publishers of
all genres of music, at all levels in their careers. Some of the industry's most well-
known songwriters added their names, including Stephen Stills, Cynthia Weil, Steve
Cropper, Ester Dean, Dean Pitchford, Congressman John Hall, Trini Lopez, John
Cafferty, Gunnar Nelson, Lori McKenna, Shannon Rubicam and Don Brewer, among
many others.
Enclosed you will find the letters, with signatures attached. On behalf of BMI, I
strongly urge you to consider the voices of thousands of songwriters and copyright
owners reflected here before making a decision that will adversely affect both the
creators, and the ongoing creation of, one of America's most important cultural and
economic resources.
Stuart Rosen
7 World Trade Center, 250 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10007-0030 (212) 220-3153 Fax: (212) 220-4482
E-Mail: srosen@bmi.com
® A Registered Trademark of Broadcast Music, Inc.
November 20, 2015
Chief, Litigation III Section
Antitrust Division
U.S. Department of Justice
450 5th Street NW, Suite 4000
Washington, DC 20001
Re: Justice Department Review of the BMI and ASCAP Consent Decrees
Each of us is a songwriter and an affiliate of BMI. We truly value our association with
BMI.
We write today in response to the Justice Department’s request for public comments on
the issue of whether BMI and ASCAP’s consent decrees should require the PROs to
license on a 100% basis, as opposed to fractionally licensing jointly-owned songs, which
has been the historical industry practice. It’s important that our voices are heard, because
a shift to 100% licensing would severely impact our creative freedom, our ability to
choose which PRO licenses our music and, ultimately, our livelihood as songwriters.
Songwriters are the ultimate small business owners. Many of us have families that
depend on the income we receive from BMI. Each of us has carefully chosen BMI as our
PRO for multiple reasons: the trusted relationships we’ve developed there; the
opportunities BMI provides for our music to be heard; the various creative networking
opportunities BMI provides; and, at the end of the day, we like the way BMI values our
music and fights for writers to get fees that reflect the fair value of our creative work.
Like most modern songwriters, we often choose to collaborate with other writers. Just
recently, every song in the Top 10 on Billboard’s Pop, Country, Christian, and R&B/Hip-
Hip charts was the result of collaboration. If the practice of 100% licensing is mandated
by the Justice Department, our co-written works could be licensed – and we could be paid
– by a PRO that represents our co-writers’ interest in our songs. The licensing fee the
other PRO charges might be lower than the one BMI has negotiated or fought for in rate
court, and despite our chosen affiliation, we would have to accept the lower fee. Because
BMI values music differently than other PROs, we also wouldn’t be able to keep the
benefits of BMI’s specific valuation system.
As a result, having our work licensed by a different organization than the one each of us
has chosen could dramatically affect our income. It could delay and potentially lower our
royalty payments, which would now have to flow through two PROs. Somehow we
would each have to monitor what we are being paid by a PRO we have no relationship
with, figure out whether they have missed any of our performances, understand how and
when they will pay us, determine whether we are getting our fair shares of bonuses under
the other PRO’s distribution system, and so on. For these reasons, it might no longer be
financially viable for any of us to collaborate with a writer outside of BMI.
It also might not be creatively viable either. The creativity and success of any songwriter
stems from being able to work with songwriters of our choosing, regardless of their PRO
affiliation. If the 100% licensing model were imposed on the PROs, in order to keep our
work entirely within BMI, our PRO of choice, we would have to collaborate only with
fellow BMI writers. All of a sudden, our individual and careful choice of collaborator
would not be driven by artistic chemistry or compatibility, but by rules imposed by the
government. The 100% licensing model sounds like the government stepping into the
creative process and effectively dictating our collaborators and our licensing
representatives.
As we understand it, music users from radio to digital music services to local television
have all traditionally paid the PROs according to their respective shares of the music.
Similarly, BMI has only ever paid us for our shares of co-written songs. What the Justice
Department is contemplating is in stark contrast with how the PROs have been
conducting business for decades and would wreak havoc in the songwriting world as we
know it.
Each of us urges you to carefully consider your decision and take into account the impact
it will have not only on all songwriters across our nation, but also on our creative
contributions to American culture. Without the freedom to collaborate and choose
representation, the profession of songwriting is in jeopardy, as is the music that touches
all of our lives.
Cynthia Weil: "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" -The Righteous Brothers, " “You're My
Soul and Inspiration" -The Righteous Brothers, "Here You Come Again" -Dolly Parton
Draco Rosa: "Livin' La Vida Loca" -Ricky Martin
Maury Yeston: Composer of Broadway Musicals- “Nine,” “Titanic,” “Grand Hotel”
Bill Anderson: “I Never Once Stopped Loving You,” “All The Lonely Women In The
World,” “City Lights,” “Still,” “Mama Sang A Song”
Stephen (Steve) Cropper: "Green Onions," "In The Midnight Hour," "Knock On
Wood," “(Sitting On) The Dock Of The Bay"
Ester Dean: “Come and Get It” -Selena Gomez, “Firework” -Katy Perry, “Hot Totty” -
Usher, “I Am” -Mary J. Blige, “Mr. Know It All” -Kelly Clarkson, “Right Now”, “Rude
Boy,” “S and M,” “What’s My Name,” “Where Have You Been” –Rihanna, “Sex
Therapy” -Robin Thicke, “Super Bass” -Nicki Minaj
Stephen A. Stills: “For What It's Worth,” “Carry On,” “Love The One You're With,”
“Spanish Suite,” “As I Come Of Age” –Crosby, Stills, and Nash
Mac Davis- “A Little Less Conversation,” “In The Ghetto” –Elvis, “I Believe In Music,”
“Texas In My Rearview Mirror”
Dean Dillon: “Tennessee Whiskey” -George Jones, "The Chair," "Nobody in His Right
Mind Would've Left Her," "It Ain't Cool to Be Crazy About You," "Ocean Front
Property," "Famous Last Words of a Fool" -George Strait
Re: Justice Department Review of the BMI and ASCAP Consent Decrees
Each of us is a music publisher and an affiliate of BMI. We truly value our association
with BMI.
We write today in response to the Justice Department’s request for public comments on
the issue of whether BMI and ASCAP’s consent decrees should require the PROs to
license on a 100% basis, as opposed to fractionally licensing jointly-owned songs, which
has been the historical industry practice. It’s important that our voices are heard, because
a shift to 100% licensing would severely impact the creative freedom of our songwriters,
our ability to choose which PRO licenses our music and, ultimately, the livelihoods of
our songwriters.
Like songwriters, most publishers are small business owners. Each of us has carefully
chosen BMI as our PRO for multiple reasons: the trusted relationships we’ve developed
there; the opportunities BMI provides for our music to be heard; the various creative
networking opportunities BMI provides; and, at the end of the day, we like the way BMI
values our music and fights for writers to get fees that reflect the fair value of our creative
work.
Most modern songwriters often choose to collaborate with other writers. Just recently,
every song in the Top 10 on Billboard’s Pop, Country, Christian, and R&B/Hip-Hip
charts was the result of collaboration. If the practice of 100% licensing is mandated by
the Justice Department, any of our works co-written with any of the other PRO’s
songwriters could be licensed – and we could be paid – by a PRO that represents the co-
writers’ interest in our songs. The licensing fee the other PRO charges might be lower
than the one BMI has negotiated or fought for in rate court, and despite our chosen
affiliation, we would have to accept the lower fee. Because BMI values music differently
than other PROs, we also wouldn’t be able to keep the benefits of BMI’s specific
valuation system.
As a result, having the work of our writers licensed by a different organization than the
one each of us has chosen could dramatically affect our income. It could delay and
potentially lower our royalty payments, which would now have to flow through two
PROs. Somehow we would each have to monitor what we are being paid by a PRO we
have no relationship with, figure out whether they have missed any of our performances,
understand how and when they will pay us, determine whether we are getting our fair
shares of bonuses under the other PRO’s distribution system, and so on. For these
reasons, it might no longer be financially viable for any of our writers to collaborate with
a writer outside of BMI.
It also might not be creatively viable either. The creativity and success of any songwriter
stems from being able to work with songwriters of their choosing, regardless of PRO
affiliation. If the 100% licensing model were imposed on the PROs, in order to keep a
work entirely within BMI, our PRO of choice, they would have to collaborate only with
fellow BMI writers. All of a sudden, the individual and careful choice of collaborator
would not be driven by artistic chemistry or compatibility, but by rules imposed by the
government. The 100% licensing model sounds like the government stepping into the
creative process and effectively dictating our collaborators and our licensing
representatives.
As we understand it, music users from radio to digital music services to local television
have all traditionally paid the PROs according to their respective shares of the music.
Similarly, BMI has only ever paid us for our shares of co-written songs. What the Justice
Department is contemplating is in stark contrast with how the PROs have been
conducting business for decades and would wreak havoc in the songwriting world as we
know it.
Each of us urges you to carefully consider your decision and take into account the impact
it will have not only on all songwriters and publishers across our nation, but also on our
creative contributions to American culture. Without the freedom to collaborate and
choose representation, the profession of songwriting is in jeopardy, as is the music that
touches all of our lives.
Giovannie Hernandez
Andres Franco
Tina Marie Thorland
Gary Sellers
Giusi Speranza
Claude M. Youmans
William D. Henslee
Laura Wichert
Little Karoo
Joel Shelton
Marquel D. Hawkins
James Stewart
Kevin Walters
Marrico Harrell
Jeff MacDonald / Louder World Music
Prize Creations Music
Art Hays