In sympathetic response to the cries of the Music First Coalition that radio airplay has hurt rather than helped musical performers, Christian Listening Network stations will no longer air music recorded by artists listed on the Coalition’s website.

Following the December 18 introduction of legislation titled “Performance Rights Act”, the stations’ Music Directors have been instructed to cull artists from playlists whose names appear on the Music First Coalition’s website as Founding Artists.

Christian Listening Network’s General Manager Dan DeBruler is among the outspoken critics of the legislation, calling it a “…tax that cannot be fairly distributed” among artists whose music actually receives airplay. “The proponents of the legislation implied it to be a performance royalty during its formation, then added a flat-rate fee for small and noncommercial radio stations when it was introduced to Congress.”

According to DeBruler, “Our Music Directors are diligent in selecting the best songs week after week,” adding “…it is illegal for US radio stations to accept direct compensation in any form in exchange for airplay. We play and promote the best songs and artists, then watch as they climb the charts. The result is increased record sales and improved ticket sales at live performances.”

“If performing artists believe uncompensated airplay is hurting them to the extent they need legislation to stop it, we’ll save them the trouble,” DeBruler said of the ban.

From DeBruler’s memo to Music Directors: Please continue to work closely with your recording industry representatives. Selecting and promoting top music is still in the best interest of our listeners and our industry. If the Performance Rights Act becomes law, we will negotiate individual fees with the artists whose music we play to ensure fair compensation.

Dan DeBruler manages three Christian Listening Network stations in North Carolina: WCLN-FM, WGQR-FM, WBLA-AM.

Converting music CDs to audio files on a computer is unapproved and therefore illegal, the Recording Industry Association of America has said (PDF) in a brief ahead of a crucial Arizona lawsuit. Hoping to support the arguments from group member Atlantic Records in its complaint against the Howell family, the RIAA contends that ripping CDs leads to “viral” copyright infringement; a single disc can result in millions of copies if shared through a peer-to-peer service, the brief claims.

The statement partly contradicts the RIAA’s previous stance on the subject. Although the group is careful in the current case to make a separation between illegal file sharing and “space-shifting,” or accessing a user’s own songs to a different device for listening outside of a regular location, it argues that any transfer of songs that has not been explicitly approved is illegal. This appears to challenge a previous argument the RIAA itself made in front of the US Supreme Court when elaborating its position on legal use of digital music in a suit against the file sharing service Grokster.

“It’s perfectly lawful to take a CD that you’ve purchased, upload it onto your computer, [and] put it onto your iPod,” music label representatives said at the time. “There is a very, very significant lawful commercial use for that device, going forward.”

The defendants, Jeffrey and Pamela Howell, have up to January 11th to respond to the brief ahead of a hearing on January 24th.