Lauryn Hill Advocates For California Bill To Change Artist Contract Limits

Lauryn Hill has always cared about her family and fans, but now she's stepping up her support for her fellow artists in her newest push for change.

In a lengthy Instagram post she uploaded on Thursday, April 14, The Fugees singer encouraged lawmakers in California to pass the FAIR Act, which stands for the Free Artists from Industry Restrictions Act. The act, which was first introduced by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez last year, would put a limit on recording contracts for artists and/or labels based in California at seven years. If passed, the law would extend to TV and film productions as well.

“We would love to believe that businesses at the highest level are always run by fair practices and moral prerogatives, but this is more often than not, not the case,” Hill wrote. “For this reason laws MUST exist that protect people from harsh and insensitive practices like artist suppression, and willful sabotage and neglect.

According to Billboard, the bill, also known as Assembly Bill 2926, would repeal a 35-year-old amendment to California’s “Seven-Year Statue," which allows record labels to sue artists for damages if they leave after seven years without producing the set number of albums that's listed in their contract. Since the bill passed in the Assembly’s Labor & Employment Committee, the FAIR Act needs to pass in the Arts Committee and the Appropriations Committee before it moves on to the assembly floor. If it passes there, then it moves on to the state Senate.

Despite her commercial success with her debut album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, the New Jersey born singer has detailed her own struggles with record labels in the past so it's not shocking to see her speak out about the bill. In her recent post, Hill tagged Arts Committee members Assms. Tasha Boerner Horvath, Suzette Valladares, Richard Bloom, Steven S. Choi, Mike Fong, Adrin Nazarian and Laura Friedman in the post ahead of a hearing the Arts Committee plans to hold regarding the bill on April 19. We'll see if she speaks out about the matter further once the hearing is completed.