# 119-hr-861: American Music Fairness Act of 2025

119-hr-861, American Music Fairness Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Issa, Darrell [R-CA-48] (R-CA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-861
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-861
- Congress: 119
- Title: American Music Fairness Act of 2025
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-01-31
- Sponsor: Rep. Issa, Darrell [R-CA-48] (R-CA)
- Cosponsors: 13
- Policy area: Commerce
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**A new federal performance right for audio transmissions of sound recordings.** It would fold terrestrial radio into a licensing and royalty framework and reset how royalties are set and shared across artists, songwriters, and broadcasters. - Artists and songwriters: Would create an affirmative performance right for audio-only sound recordings so featured and nonfeatured artists receive royalty revenue from transmissions, while explicitly preserving songwriters' existing public-performance rights. - Small terrestrial broadcasters: Would get tiered, protective fees that start as low as $10 per year for the smallest stations and are available to stations with prior-year revenue under $1.5 million and owners with aggregate revenue limits. - Licensing and rate process: When a direct license covers transmissions the transmitting entity would pay 50% of total royalties to the designated collective, and Copyright Royalty Judges would run expedited rate proceedings and then repeat them every five years while weighing radio's promotional value when setting rates.

## Cosponsors (13)

- Rep. Nadler, Jerrold [D-NY-12] (D-NY), 2025-01-31T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Green, Mark E. [R-TN-7] (R-TN), 2025-01-31T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. McClintock, Tom [R-CA-5] (R-CA), 2025-01-31T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36] (D-CA), 2025-01-31T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Doggett, Lloyd [D-TX-37] (D-TX), 2025-03-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Raskin, Jamie [D-MD-8] (D-MD), 2025-03-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Brownley, Julia [D-CA-26] (D-CA), 2025-03-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-28] (D-CA), 2025-03-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Jayapal, Pramila [D-WA-7] (D-WA), 2025-06-02T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Friedman, Laura [D-CA-30] (D-CA), 2025-07-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Evans, Dwight [D-PA-3] (D-PA), 2025-08-29T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Gooden, Lance [R-TX-5] (R-TX), 2026-02-13T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Kamlager-Dove, Sydney [D-CA-37] (D-CA), 2026-02-23T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Flat royalty fees for small stations: benefit, low. If enacted, qualifying AM/FM stations would pay a flat yearly royalty. Stations under $100,000 in prior-year revenue would pay $10. Public stations with $100,000 to under $1,500,000 would pay $100. Non‑public stations in that range would pay $500. The owner’s total related-company revenue must be u…
- Songwriter royalties stay the same: benefit, low. If enacted, this would not cut or change public performance rights for songwriters. It would not reduce royalties owed to owners of musical works.
- New royalties for radio and streams: mixed, high. This bill would create a public performance right when sound recordings are sent by audio transmission. It would cover digital and analog audio, including AM/FM radio, but not video. The Copyright Royalty Judges would set rates soon after enactment, effective from that date through December 31, 202…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-hr-1684: PAST Act of 2025
- 119-hr-1787: Roberto Clemente Commemorative Coin Act
- 119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act
- 119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act
- 119-hr-4382: America’s Olympic and Paralympic Games Commemorative Coins Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-861 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/861)

## Related
- [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877)
- [119-hr-1684: PAST Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1684)
- [119-hr-1787: Roberto Clemente Commemorative Coin Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1787)
- [119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage A…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-842)
- [119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2102)
- [119-hr-4382: America’s Olympic and Paralympic Games Commemorative Coins Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4382)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-861 (as of 2026-04-21).