Radio stations do not pay recording artists for broadcasting recordings—only composers are paid—which means recording artists give radio stations a valuable performance right for free, yet Congress has declined to extend this payment requirement despite a century of requests, demonstrating that copyright has never been about maximizing payments to creators but about balancing creator and public interests.
factualpending
Speaker
Lawrence LessigEvidence Quote
“The radio station thus gets a bit of something for nothing.”
Source
Free cultureCreated: 8/13/2026, 2:35:01 AM
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