The heads of the judiciary committees from both the House and the Senate have sent a letter to NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith and Joint Board Chairman Steve Newberry calling for negotiations between the NAB and the musicFirst Coalition over the Performance Rights Act, which would force radio stations to pay royalties for playing music. House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) sent the two parties a letter asking them to meet with members and staffers from both committees to try to reach an agreement over the proposed royalties.

"We request that your organizations, as representatives of the stakeholders most affected by the provisions of this legislation, enter into negotiations before this legislation is considered on the floor of either House. The negotiated resolution will be considered by Congress as it takes up passage of this Act," the letter reads. "We will request a recommendation from Committee Members and staff resulting from the negotiations. With your good faith participation, we are confident that an acceptable and mutually beneficial resolution to this longstanding disagreement can be found."

NAB EVP Dennis Wharton commented on the request by saying, "NAB is of course willing to talk with members of Congress on this issue and any issue that could negatively impact the ability of free and local hometown radio stations to serve our listeners. We would hope that any discussions would also include the nearly 300 members of Congress who oppose the RIAA-backed bill."

As reported yesterday, Sen. Jim Risch (ID) and Rep. Glenn Nye (VA) became the newest co-sponsors of the Local Radio Freedom Act, a bipartisan resolution that opposes the Performance Rights Act. Congressional opposition now stands at 252 House members and 27 Senators.