Legal File
Congressional Hearing on American Music Fairness Act Proposing New Music Royalty on Radio Stations – What is Being Considered
Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the American Music Fairness Act bill which proposes to adopt a new music royalty to be paid by over-the-air radio stations. The royalty would be payable to SoundExchange for the public performance of sound recordings. This means that the money collected would be paid to performing artists and record labels for the use of their recording of a song.
Read MoreGetting Ready for the 2026 Election – Steps Broadcasters Should Be Taking Now to Avoid Legal Issues with Political Broadcasting
Spending on political advertising is sure to increase as the new year rolls around, and some suggest that it could rival or even exceed the record amounts spent in prior elections. What should broadcast stations be thinking about now to get ready for the 2026 elections?
Read MoreDecember 17 Comment Date Set in 2022 Quadrennial Review Looking at Local Ownership Rules – What is at Stake, Particularly for Radio?
Wasting no time following the reopening of the government, the FCC has published its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the 2022 Quadrennial Review in the Federal Register, setting December 17 as the deadline for initial comments on the questions asked by the FCC.
Read MoreNovember 2025 Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – Federal Government Shutdown, Daylight Savings Time, Comment Deadlines, FCC Open Meeting and more
In November, the biggest regulatory news may be the continuing federal government shutdown is continuing. If the shutdown persists, comment deadlines discussed below may shift until after the government resumes normal operations. As we discussed here, the FCC provided guidelines before the shutdown began on how regulatory deadlines would be impacted during the government shutdown, with most deadlines postponed until the day after the day that the FCC reopens.
Read MoreUpdated Shutdown News
We would normally provide you with some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. But, as the government shutdown has drastically limited activity at the FCC, and as Congress did not produce significant news this week while focused on the shutdown and other activity, we thought that we should provide some reminders on specific regulatory activity that is curtailed by the shutdown and about some of the issues that may arise once it is resolved.
Read MoreGovernment Shutdown Information for Broadcasters
As it looks like the government shutdown is here for at least a while, here is an update on some of the impacts that the shutdown has on the FCC. Also, this notes that the FAA is still open and the importance of continuing to report to the FAA any issues with tower lighting or marking that may arise.
Read MoreFTC Drops Appeal of Court’s Rejection of Nationwide Ban on Noncompete Agreements – To Pursue Individual Cases Where Noncompetes are an Unfair Trade Practice
The Federal Trade Commission last week announced that it was dropping its appeal of a court decision which put on hold an FTC order adopted during the Biden administration which banned noncompete agreements in all industries across the country (see our note here). This ban was a concern to many in the broadcast industry as it would allow station employees, including on-air talent, managerial employees, and others with access to sensitive competitive information to freely move from station to station within a broadcast market.
Read MoreFCC 2025 Regulatory Fees Set – Dates and Payment Procedures to Follow
Last Friday (8/29), the FCC released its Order adopting the regulatory fees to be paid by broadcasters and other regulated entities at some point before the October 1 start of the federal government’s new fiscal year. The Commission slightly increased fees for TV stations by 1.2% from last year (from $0.006598 to $0.006674 per population served) after the FCC refined its fee estimates made earlier this year to account for exempt stations. Fees for radio stations, however, generally decreased slightly from last year.
Read MoreSeptember 2025 Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – FCC Regulatory Fees, Political Windows, EAS Event Code, Rulemaking Comment Deadlines and more
It is time for our look at September’s regulatory dates and deadlines to which broadcasters should be paying attention – and the deadline that probably is most important to all commercial broadcasters is not yet known. That, of course, is the deadline for the payment of annual regulatory fees – which must be made before the federal government’s October 1 start of the new fiscal year.
Read MoreA Closer Look At the FCC’s First EEO Notice of 2025 – New Questions to Root Out DEI Issues
Editor’s note: After we went to press last Friday (8/8), the FCC released its first EEO audit of 2025. Included on the list of stations selected for audit were two Michigan television stations and five Michigan radio stations.
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