In a May 29th letter to the editor of The Tennessean, NAB Executive Vice President for Media Relations Dennis Wharton asked:

"If this legislation is aimed at "helping artists," why does it direct half of the money to giant record label companies based out of the country?"

THE FACTS: NOWHERE does the Performance Rights Act refer to "record label companies" (giant, foreign, or otherwise). The PRA would send 50 percent of the royalties directly to artists and musicians and 50 percent directly to the sound recording copyright owner. And since many artists are also the sound recording copyright owners of their music (such as Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins who recently testified before Congress in favor of a performance right), artists would actually get more than record labels. That is the definition of "helping artists."