
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 13, 1990                   TAG: 9007130315
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

RECORD LABELING BILL GAINS IN LA.

A bill to require warning labels on record albums with potentially offensive lyrics was passed last week by the Louisiana state Senate.

If signed by Gov. Buddy Roemer, it would be the first state law in the United States to require labels on recordings with themes of rape, murder, suicide, illegal drug use, child abuse, or satanic worship.

Roemer says he has not decided whether to sign the measure, which now goes back to the House for approval of Senate amendments.

As passed by the House on May 10, the bill would have made retailers responsible for labeling records, tapes, and compact discs, and subjected them to felony charges for selling such recordings to minors. It was amended to make the recording industry responsible for labeling; selling such recordings to minors was reduced to the status of misdemeanor.

Similar bills were proposed in several other states, but most were withdrawn when the members of the Recording Industry Association of America, the trade group that includes the major companies, agreed to place a warning sticker reading "Parental Advisory - Explicit Lyrics" on certain albums.

by CNB