In 2003, The Hill Did Little With Music

Not one bill affecting the music industry was passed in the first session of the 108th Congress. Few bills introduced in 2003 even made it to committee level, and others never even got a hearing at the subcommittee level.

According to Hill veterans, any legislation that does not create a consensus among conflicting interests will continue to languish in 2004.

Bills championing one side of an issue, such as Digital Millennium Copyright Act reform, will have a steep hill to climb. Such legislation would give more leeway to Internet companies and broader consumer fair-use exemptions, such as allowing home copying.

Bills giving the record industry broader enforcement power might also find resistance.

"Consensus is the key in this Congress, no question," says Mitch Bainwol, chairman/CEO of the Recording Industry Assn. of America and a longtime public-policy player. "Particularly so this coming year, because it's an election year. It's going to be a short session."

Industry lobbyist and House senior staffer Mike Remington says of intellectual property legislation in the first session, "It wasn't checkmate so much as check. Non-consensus bills canceled each other out."

Besides piracy and online world adjustments, the other industry-related issues on the legislative table are media concentration, inspection of pay-for-play and bullying tactics toward artists (see table, page 89).

Only two bills tangentially related to industry issues saw major action in 2003. One was a congressional "resolution of disapproval" of the June Federal Communications Commission ruling that allowed greater consolidation of TV and radio companies. Amounting to a Congressional veto, the measure passed as part of a huge appropriations bill, but only TV ownership caps were affected.

The other bill, still pending but awaiting only a Senate floor vote, is a measure by Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del., that targets "rave" promoters who use such events to allow drug use. The dance community says the legislation is over-broad.

Hill veterans say some other factors were at play in the meager legislative action. They say Congress is overwhelmed with more important legislative priorities, from Medicare to appropriations, and has also been slowed by ongoing battles between majority Republicans and Democrats.

The Judiciary Committees on both sides of the aisle, which usually handle music industry matters, have been consumed by increasingly partisan fights. Work by the Senate Judiciary Committee in particular has been paralyzed by Democrats stonewalling the Bush administration's judicial nominations.

Another factor is one of process.

"There's a natural rhythm and flow to legislative sessions," Bainwol says. The first session is often filled with hearings and bill introductions. The second session is when those bills are more likely to get committee hearings and floor time. That is especially true this year, when policy makers are watching the impact of the RIAA's lawsuits against individual file sharers.

Realizing Congress has been loath to legislate solutions to online problems, the music industry has negotiated privately and hammered out solutions outside the halls of Congress.

A prime example is the cross-industry agreement announced in January among the RIAA, the Business Software Alliance and the Computer Systems Policy Project.

The negotiations produced a consensus on allowing content creators to use technology to protect their property and a determination that private-sector negotiations rather than government mandates should drive digital distribution.

One piracy effort may yet pass if the Senate returns to vote on appropriations bills this week. Sens. George Allen, R-Va., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., have attached an amendment to the Department of State appropriations bill that would give $2.5 million to beef up anti-piracy efforts.

Congress did make non-legislative progress this year in the fight against piracy by forming several new caucuses.

Reps. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., and Adam Schiff, D-N.Y., created an intellectual property caucus. Biden and Rep. Bob Goodlatte, D-Va., formed an international piracy caucus. Lawmakers also joined industry leaders to form the Entertainment Industry Coalition for Free Trade.

Last month, six senators sent out stern letters to representatives of peer-to-peer operations Grokster, Bearshare, Blubster, eDonkey2000, LimeWire and Streamcast Networks. The letters request the services to employ filters and give consumers more information on how they might be liable for copyright infringement.