Sorry, this was mis-leading... I was actually talking about the German GEMA rules and only used the BBC website as an example for "license fee" since I am not sure this is the correct translation for what the German GEMA and that "tax on radio and tv" is all about and I doubt anything like that exists in the USA.

Erm, I think you're confusing the GEMA with the GEZ, which would be the equivalent of the British TV licenses, i.e. your fee for state-run broadcasts. Not aware of any equivalents in the US, things like C-Span, PBS and NPR are more independent if I'm not mistaken.

The GEMA is something entirely different, about as capitalistic as you can get get. And so to no surprise there are equivalents in the US, e.g. BMI and the Harry Fox Agency.