Caps on radio music fees would be scrapped
Commercial radio means private stations paid for by ads. It pays at most 1% of its earnings to play recorded songs. The ABC pays even less. Senator David Pocock is an independent senator for the Australian Capital Territory. He wants those limits gone, so artists and record labels can bargain for more. Record labels are the companies that make and sell recordings.
Official name: Copyright Legislation Amendment (Fair Pay for Radio Play) Bill 2023
- Commercial radio can be made to pay no more than 1% of all its earnings to play recorded music.
- The ABC can be made to pay no more than 0.5 cents per Australian for the same thing.
- This bill would delete both limits from the Copyright Act 1968. Copyright is the right to be paid when others use your creative work.
- The Copyright Tribunal would still set the price if the two sides cannot agree. It is a body like a court but less formal.
- It is a private bill from Senator David Pocock. It has not been voted on.
Who it affects
- Musicians and record labels: They could ask radio stations for higher fees when their recordings are played.
- Commercial radio stations: The 1% limit on what they can be made to pay for recorded music would be removed.
- The ABC: The limit of 0.5 cents per person on its music fees would be removed.
- Radio listeners: Nothing changes straight away for you.
Recording fees capped at 1%
Copyright is the legal right to control who copies or uses a creative work. It also means the right to be paid for it.
When a song plays on the radio, two different copyrights are involved. One covers the song itself. That means the words and the tune.
The other covers the recording. That is the version a band made in a studio.
Radio stations pay fees to use both. For the song itself, the law sets no limit on the fee. For the recording, the law sets a hard limit.
The Copyright Act 1968 sets these limits. Commercial radio can be made to pay no more than 1% of its total earnings for recordings. Total earnings means all the money it takes in, before costs.
The ABC is the national public broadcaster. It can be made to pay no more than 0.5 cents for each person living in Australia.
Senator David Pocock says these limits hold down what artists are paid. His notes on the bill list five reviews between 1995 and 2019 that said to remove them.
They include reports from the Australian Law Reform Commission, a body that reviews laws. They also include reports from groups of MPs and senators in both houses of Parliament.
What the bill changes
The bill is very short. It deletes parts 152(8) to 152(11) of the Copyright Act 1968. That is all it does.
Deleting parts 152(8) to 152(10) removes the 1% limit on commercial radio. Deleting part 152(11) removes the 0.5 cent limit on the ABC.
The Copyright Tribunal sets copyright fees when the two sides cannot agree. A tribunal is like a court but less formal.
Part 152(11) also makes the Tribunal make separate orders for ABC radio and ABC TV. After this bill, it could still make separate orders. But it would not have to.
Fees would then be worked out by bargaining. A collecting society is a group that collects fees for many artists and labels. It would bargain with radio stations. It would do this the same way it does for other kinds of copyright.
Say you are a singer whose song gets lots of plays on a big city station. Right now, the total pot your record label shares from that station is limited to 1% of its earnings. Under this bill, your label's collecting society could argue for a bigger pot.
The safety net stays
The Copyright Tribunal keeps its role. A radio station and the collecting society might not agree on a price. Then either one can still ask the Tribunal to decide.
The only change is that the Tribunal would no longer be held to the old limits.
Waiting in the Senate
If it is passed, the law would start the day after it is signed into law. The Governor-General, the King's representative, signs bills into law.
Senator Pocock brought the bill to the Senate on 3 August 2023. It was debated on 9 August 2023.
It lapsed when Parliament ended on 21 July 2025. That means it died because time ran out. It was put back on the Senate's to-do list on 23 July 2025.
It is still waiting in the Senate. To become law, it would need to pass the Senate. Then it would need to pass the House of Representatives, the lower house of Parliament. Then it would need to be signed into law.
Its journey through Parliament
| 03 Aug 2023 | Senate: Introduced and read a first time |
| 03 Aug 2023 | Senate: Second reading moved |
| 09 Aug 2023 | Senate: Second reading debate |
| 21 Jul 2025 | Senate: Lapsed at end of Parliament |
| 23 Jul 2025 | Senate: Restored to Notice Paper |