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H.R. 1999: Protecting the Rights of Musicians Act

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H.R. 1999: Protecting the Rights of Musicians Act

114th Congress · introduced 2015-04-23 · Science, Technology, Communications · Latest: Referred to the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

  1. Where it came from: introduced 2015-04-23 · official record
  2. Who proposed it: Rep. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN-7] · what a sponsor is
  3. What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
  4. Where it stands now: Referred to the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
  5. If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Protecting the Rights of Musicians Act

Plain summary

Protecting the Rights of Musicians Act Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to deny a television broadcast station the right to consent to retransmissions of the station's signal by cable systems or other multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) if the licensee of such station is also the licensee of an AM or FM radio broadcast station that has transmitted a sound recording over such radio station without providing compensation for all programming carried over the signal. (Under current law, retransmission consent requirements prohibit cable systems or other MVPDs from retransmitting the signal of a television broadcasting station without the station's consent, which is generally obtained through a retransmission consent agreement under which the cable system or MVPD provides a negotiated payment or other consideration to the station in exchange for retransmission authority.) Prohibits the Federal Communications Commission from requiring mobile devices (with computing and communications functionality) to be equipped with a tuner for receiving the signals of AM or FM radio broadcast stations.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Protecting the Rights of Musicians Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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The strongest published arguments

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Arguments against (opponents)

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN-7] · 1 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Sponsor's campaign money: Rep. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN-7] reported raising $3.2 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Sources

Record fed-us-cong114-hr1999 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong114 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong114