Issue Position: Music and Entertainment

Issue Position

Tennessee's 5th District is home to Nashville, also known as Music City, USA. Music is the lifeblood of Nashville, and it's everywhere you turn in our city. We've got it all: recording artists, musicians, songwriters, record labels, manufacturers, retailers, and service providers. Visitors comefrom far and wide to enjoy our musical culture, the Grand Ole Opry, and the Country Music Hall of Fame and our rich Motown heritage in the Jefferson Street Music District.

Nashville continues to be the place to go if one wants to pursue a career in music, and thousands headthere annually with nothing but a guitar and a dream. That's why sound music policy is so importantto Nashville, and why it is one of my top priorities.

Intellectual property is almost exclusively the subject of federal legislation, and music policy that affects us locally is hatched in Washington, D.C. I'm a strong supporter of intellectual property rights and rights-holders and believe that intellectual property laws need reevaluating when significant new technologies reach the marketplace.

My goal is to make sure any new laws serve the public's interest in progress, civic discourse, investment and innovation.

I'm a co-sponsor of the Performance Rights Act to make sure our performers receive compensation for their hard work. I've also supported the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2007, also known as the PRO-IP Act, which strengthens theenforcement measures available to intellectual property owners and stiffens thepenalties for those who break the law.

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