Just go to Google, type sarah jones fcc, and you'll get plenty of information. From the 5 seconds of skimming I did, it looks like a station that played a Sarah Jones song got fined. The FCC does not fine artists. It oversees broadcasters.
Wow, this seems like a very interesting case. Nothing like Good Ole' Michael Powell and his boys to work hard to strip away the 1st amendment rights due to an inability to recognize satire.
Sometimes, depending upon the case, the FCC fine is passed onto the artist/performer. In the case of a radio station playing a pre-recorded song, under current FCC rules, the fine would go to the station's ownership. Remember the Sinead O'Conner/"Saturday Night Live" incident? Due to that, SNL and most broadcast networks now have performers sign a waiver before air saying they assume liability for any FCC fine during their segment.
A side note... currently there is legislation on the table that would make it easier for the FCC to fine artists and performers, and not just broadcast entities. Final legislation would have to pass both the House and Senate.
"I'm not a catcher! I'm a piano player!" -- Schroeder from "Peanuts" ----- http://www.facebook.com/p/Brandon_Bartlett/500719306
A lot of people were upset by it and complained to the network. Right before she ripped up the picture she also yelled out "Fight the real enemy" (which I never knew, but being the Google whore I am, I found this and have been reading about it - http://www.notbored.org/sinead.html).
Message to the politically corrupt FCC: Lighten up, grow some balls, and develop a sense of humor. Stop persecuting artists for doing their job!
Anyone remember the George Carlin incident? He was arrested for performing his, now infamous, Seven Dirty Words bit. He spent a night in prison just for saying seven words, and mocking the absurdity of people's attitude towards them. He pleaded the first ammendment, and was let out.
So now you've met the court of 364, and if you ever wish to come...don't.
Commasplice, the link you posted has one "error" or at least raises a question I can answer. They end by saying that in re-airings of that episode NBC has substituted a picture of a "Little Black Boy" for the picture of the pope and accuse NBC of altering O'Conner's intent. That scene is taken from the "Dress rehearsal" and shows what O'Connor told SNL she would be doing on air: Holding up a picture of one of the 'victims'.
I won't get into O'Connor's politics but I think any performer or producer who reads this board will agree: For her to go out and perform an act so radically different from what she had promised the network & SNL was (and should have been) career suicide...
I agree with you 100%, Joe. That brings me back to the reason I brought up the Sinead O'Conner/SNL incident in the first place. It's not right to levy a fine against NBC for O'Conner's actions. (Thus the legislation on the table.) She cannot claim her right to "free speech" in this situation because she was a performer on a nationally televised comedy show -- on the public airwaves -- the same airwaves regulated and monitored by the FCC.
"I'm not a catcher! I'm a piano player!" -- Schroeder from "Peanuts" ----- http://www.facebook.com/p/Brandon_Bartlett/500719306