In an explosive conversation, Michelle Lewis and Kay Hanley talk with David Lowery and Chris Castle about Songwriters of North America, their experiences with lawyers from the Department of Justice Antitrust Division in the lead-up to the DOJ’s decision on “100% licensing,” and disingenuous behavior by the government’s lawyers that crossed the line into “union busting.”
—in an ex parte communication, Antitrust Division Section Chief David C. Kully advised a witness in an ongoing Justice Department inquiry to withdraw from ASCAP as a solution to 100% licensing, knowing she was represented by counsel.
—Justice Department lawyers chose to conduct meetings and telephonic communications with songwriters in which DOJ lawyers read aloud from proposed text of their 100% licensing statement in an effort to build a false consensus among songwriters and refused to provide a written draft of the statement for public comment.
—At the direction of former Google lawyer and DOJ official Renata B. Hesse, the lawyers also told SONA members that no transcripts existed of these telephonic communications. If true, it is highly unusual for the Justice Department to engage in such contacts with interested parties without preserving a record of such meetings to be made available to the public and preserved as customary federal record keeping. The lawyers’ statement is more likely another lie or obfuscation.
Show notes:
Links to documents we discuss on the MTP Podcast with Michelle Lewis, Kay Haneley, David Lowery on the DOJ’s new policy on 100% licensing.
Songwriters of North America Website
@wearesonala
Podcast theme from “March of the Billionaires” written by Davey Faragher, Johnny Hickman, David Lowery & Michael Urbano, performed by Cracker from their 2014 album, Berkeley to Bakersfield used courtesy of Cracker.
Department of Justice Statement on 100% Licensing
MIC Coalition Letter to DOJ Lawyer Renata Hesse
BMI’s Premotion Letter to Judge Stanton re Obama Justice Department Ruling on 100% Licensing
The Obama Administration Is Lame Ducking An Unworkable Burden on Songwriters: 4 Reasons Why It’s Bad Law by Chris Castle (Huffington Post)
Music Technology Policy 
Keep it up. With so many Google operatives in policy decision making position, it is imperative that we continue to shine a harsh spotlight on Renata Hesse to serve as a warning to others with prejudicial agendas.
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