Mary Bono wants to run recording industry lobbying group

By Ted Bridis

Jun 16, 2003 | Rep. Mary Bono, who is forming a new congressional caucus on piracy and copyright issues, also wants to run the music industry's lobbying organization in Washington, a spokeswoman said Monday.

Replacing the departing chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America would be her "ideal job," spokeswoman Cindy Hartley said. She added that Bono, R-Calif., isn't actively pursuing the job and plans to run for re-election.

Political watchdog groups in Washington questioned the idea of someone being a possible job candidate for the music industry's lobby and also a founding member of a caucus focused on some of the industry's most important policy concerns.

"It certainly raises eyebrows," said Steven Weiss of the Center for Responsive Politics. "Angering the RIAA is certainly not going to advance her job prospects, so one must wonder whether her views on this issue are motivated more by personal beliefs or her future career."

The RIAA represents major U.S. music labels and has aggressively battled the threat facing its artists from Internet pirates offering songs free for downloading using file-sharing software. Its current chief executive, Hilary Rosen, is leaving at month's end after serving as chief executive since 1998.

Bono, one of four founding members of a new caucus on intellectual property rights being announced Tuesday on Capitol Hill, "thinks it would be great, but she's extremely happy with her role in Congress," Hartley said. "She's not seeking out this role. It's nothing she honestly has even been approached about."

The RIAA declined to say whether Bono was a candidate for its top job, although Rosen has said, "I think she's great."

"We are not commenting on the search process except to say it's ongoing," spokeswoman Amy Weiss said.

Bono's financial disclosure forms, released Monday, show that she and her dependent children own copyrights on Sonny Bono's music collections worth between $580,000 and $1.3 million from the RIAA, Warner Music Group and the Bono Collection Trust. They earned royalties in 2002 worth between $210,000 and $1.225 million. Sonny Bono, the congresswoman's husband, died in a skiing accident in January 1998.

Her interest in the RIAA job was first reported during the weekend on Billboard.com, the Web site for Billboard magazine.

The director of Consumers Union, which has battled the RIAA over the rights of consumers to make digital copies of music they purchase, complained that Bono's remarks about wanting the industry job raised questions.

"We certainly hope the congresswoman is not putting her own personal interests ahead of the policy concerns of her constituents or the nation," Gene Kimmelman said. "It certainly creates an appearance question about what her true motivation is."

Bono, who easily won re-election in 2002 in a relatively safe congressional district for Republicans, is a member of the House Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. Campaign records indicate that Hollywood and the music industry were among her top contributors in the 2002 election, giving $22,100.

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