From a May 12, 2009, open letter by Radio One, Inc. Chairperson and Founder Cathy Hughes:

"The bill...is the brain child of the foreign owned record industry..." (5/12/09)

THE FACTS: American artists and musicians have been pursuing the performance right for over 70 years.

Over those seven decades right up to the present, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has spent millions of dollars on ad campaigns and lobbying to kill any efforts by Congress to enact a performance right.
The original coalition in support of a performance right was the "brain child" of bandleader Fred Waring who, in 1935, organized 700 performers (including Bing Crosby) as the National Association of Performing Artists (NAPA). Since then, singers and musicians from Frank Sinatra to Gladys Knight to Bruce Springsteen have spoken out in support of this basic act of economic fairness.