The musicFirst Coalition has been highly critical of terrestrial radio stations for what it argues is their failure to provide artists and musicians with fair compensation for use of their recordings.
But the recording industry lobbying group apparently forgot its own advice Tuesday (March 31) when it quoted the lyrics to a classic Beatles song in a press release without securing permission from Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
MusicFirst has been engaged in a pitched battle on Capitol Hill to drum up congressional support for legislation that would require U.S. terrestrial radio stations to pay artists and labels performance royalties to play their recordings. Some members of the House Judiciary Committee recently urged the recording industry and the National Association of Broadcasters to reach a negotiated settlement.
In a March 31 press release mocking NAB president/CEO David Rehr’s opposition to talks, musicFirst quoted the words from John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s “We Can Work It Out” in their entirety. But the coalition failed to secure the necessary license from the song’s publisher Sony/ATV to reproduce the lyrics. Sony/ATV spokesman Jimmy Asci confirmed the oversight Wednesday, declining to comment further on the matter.
A representative for musicFirst didn’t immediately return phone calls and e-mails seeking comment.
