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Freedom Of Speech - Current Issues
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What the RIAA is Doing for Freedom of Speech
We continue to remain vigilant in defense of any encroachments on the freedom of speech. Fortunately, compared to ten years ago, federal legislative threats to free speech have significantly diminished. That’s welcome news but we still need to monitor developments closely.
In the past, we have opposed unconstitutional efforts to redefine (beyond the scope of current obscenity laws) what constitutes material that is "harmful to minors," in order to restrict sales to minors; one-size-fits-all labeling to apply to every sector of the entertainment industry, music, film, video games, and television; Commission on Culture with subpoena powers.
At the state level, RIAA is working with state legislators in all 50 states to ensure that the rights of artists are preserved for the enjoyment of everyone. RIAA works to educate policy makers on the music industry’s efforts to help parents understand the music that their children are listening to. Some of the major issues that frequently arise are:
Concert Ratings: Proposals to permit local governments to rate music concerts and label tickets in advance of the performance with the goal of regulating the access of minors to concerts, and in some cases even preventing certain concerts from being held.
Harmful to Minors: Such laws seek to change Supreme Court standards for materials that are denied to children by lumping certain sound recordings into the "harmful to minors" category. This step makes it easier to ban sales to minors of certain objectionable material.
Sales to Minors: Some state legislators want to prevent minors from purchasing sound recordings that carry the voluntary Parental Advisory warning label. Some proposals would impose stiff financial penalties and even jail time for a merchant or sales clerk who sells a labeled recording to a minor. In some states the minor is included and could be fined for attempting to purchase these recordings. These proposals turn the voluntary labeling program into the criteria for convicting someone of a crime and that is clearly unconstitutional. Moreover, such a move would ultimately undermine the success of the voluntary program by potentially criminalizing the actions of an 18-year-old store clerk who sells music that’s legal to sell to a 17-year-old customer.
Community Standards: Usually, states determine the artistic value of a creative work. When laws allow much smaller communities, such as towns or counties, to implement their own standards, a threat exists that creative works will be denied to everyone because the narrowest view of creativity will prevail. Such laws impede the marketplace and raise serious constitutional issues.
Divestiture: Removing state investments, usually pension funds for retired state workers, from entertainment companies producing music with what some politicians consider "objectionable" lyrics. This policy threatens the First Amendment and undermines the retirement security of senior citizens by allowing politicians, instead of financial professionals, to decide how to invest state funds.
RIAA will continue to vigorously fight restrictive censorship measures in the months and years ahead…
