Some of the country’s top lawmakers spoke out yesterday in Nashville in favor of the Performance Rights Act. They supported the position of the music industry, a position that had been fiercely opposed by the radio lobby until recent negotiations have resulted in a controversially more moderate position.

At a panel discussion yesterday at Nashville’s Belmont University, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke (pictured) said he only recently became aware of the performance rights issue, noting, “To me it makes no sense why all of the people who are involved in the production of music [aren’t] compensated” for radio airplay. “The Commerce Department believes strongly it’s a matter for fundamental fairness,” he said. “The Commerce Department supports the legislation.”

Rep. Jim Cooper also endorses the legislation, noting at the panel, “We were able to make some progress in performance rights because the [music] industry is unified.”

Responding to a question about new revenue streams, RIAA chairman and CEO Mitch Bainwol appeared to pin his hopes on the passage of the legislation, noting that, “Ten years from now we will have $2 billion in revenue from [radio] listening.” Explaining why it was so important to find new revenue streams at this juncture, Bainwol referenced the continuing declines in CD sales, saying, “If we attach our dreams for future creativity to plastic, our dreams will not be realized.”

The Performance Rights Act, however, was merely a side issue in a session focused on music piracy. In addition to Locke and Cooper, panelists at the event—which was organized by the songwriting group NSAI—included Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, and NSAI executive director Barton Herbison.

Cooper talked about “the flood of piracy ruining our business.” He compared it to Nashville’s historic May floods, calling the piracy issue “an invisible flood, but just as if not more devastating.”

Locke called piracy a “scourge,” and noted, “piracy and counterfeit and copyright issues have the full attention of the government.” He called the Internet “a double edged sword,” citing its potential for harm with regard to piracy, but also saying, “If used correctly, it can be a great growth engine… for music and other creative industries.”

The event drew hundreds in a standing room only crowd that included industry executives and students in Belmont’s music business program. At the urging of NSAI, many of Nashville’s top songwriters were also in attendance including Big Kenny Alphin, Billy Dean, Roger Murrah, Rick Carnes, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Rob Crosby, James Dean Hicks, Fred Knobloch, Steve Bogard and Wood Newton.

Several of the attendees suggested stronger language be used to describe piracy. “I don’t know why they call it sharing when it’s stealing,” Crosby said, noting that piracy and declining CD sales have cost the country two thirds of its professional songwriters in the last decade. He did not cite the source of that statistic. “Every day the business gets tougher and tougher,” Crosby said. “The future is scary.”

Bredesen also suggested a change in language. “Piracy has sort of a Jack Sparrow quality about it,” he said. “Why don’t we agree to call it stealing music?”

Added Big Kenny, “I don’t like to give good pirates a bad name. Call it what it is: stealing. Let’s make it simple for our children [to understand].”