Mixed Prospects for MMA to Pass Both Chambers This Year, NAB Panel Told

It's no sure thing the Music Modernization Act will pass the Senate this year, though MMA House passage seems likely after that chamber's Judiciary Committee unanimously OK'd HR-5447 earlier Tuesday (see 1804110060), an NAB Show panelist told us in Las Vegas. MMA has "been pretty well set up to pass the House," but work is at an earlier stage in the Senate, NAB Deputy General Counsel Garrett Levin told a panel. There will "probably" be "some hearings" on the bill on the Senate side, he added. "But it doesn't look like there's a pretty good chance of seeing comprehensive music licensing reform passed into law this year." He acknowledged in later Q&A to us that "it's a little hard to prognosticate" on prospects for the copyright change: "It's a little bit of a race against the clock. It's an election year. There's probably not a whole lot left that Congress is going to do" this session. The wide-ranging support from industries would suggest "a pretty good chance that it does make it through the Senate," but "it only takes one senator to slow it down," Levin said. Copyright interests like RIAA praised House Judiciary's 32-0 vote. The bill "represents a level of compromise and consensus on music licensing issues that has eluded lawmakers for decades," said NAB CEO Gordon Smith.