How the Mechanical Licensing Collective Can Help You

I get it. The intricacies of compulsory licensing are not as cool of a read as analyses of litigation and other subjects that an entertainment attorney might choose to write about. And the metrics of this blog reflect that.

And yet I follow my train of thought from the last blog post on section 115 of the Copyright Act and encourage industry professionals to read on. The Music Modernization Act is now law. If songwriters, publishers, and artists want to get paid for their music, basic knowledge of licensing and how this new system works are essential.

And so we go to blanket licensing. A digital music provider that qualifies for a compulsory license may obtain a blanket license through the mechanical licensing collective, also known as the MLC. 

The MLC has not yet been put formally into place. A recent editorial in Billboard magazine frames the quest of the American Music Licensing Collective to have authorization to name directors. This ultimately will be decided by the Register of Copyrights. The MLC is to be a single nonprofit entity that "is endorsed by, and enjoys substantial support from, musical work copyright owners that together represent the greatest percentage of the licensor market for uses of such works ..." 

There are numerous key functions to be carried out by the MLC, including the administration of blanket licenses, collection and distribution of royalties, determining location of copyright owners, and maintaining a database and records.

The Board of Directors of the MLC will consist of 14 voting members and 3 nonvoting members: 
  1. Ten representatives of music publishers - voting members
  2. Four professional songwriters - voting members
  3. Representative of nonprofit trade association of music publishers - nonvoting member
  4. Representative of digital licensee coordinator or nonprofit trade association of digital licensees - nonvoting member
  5. Representative of nonprofit trade association advocating for songwriters - nonvoting member
The directors are required by law to establish and appoint an unclaimed royalties oversight committee consisting of ten members - five musical work copyright owners and five professional songwriters. The directors are also required to appoint a dispute resolution committee that shall consist of at least six members and equal representation of musical work copyright owners and professional songwriters.

A crucial part of the duties of the MLC is the musical works database. This database is for information relating to musical works, the identity and location of copyright owners of the works, and the sound recordings in which the musical works are embodied. Basic requirements of title, copyright owner and contact information, the international standard musical work code, and identifying information for sound recordings (featured artist, producer, recording code) are contained in section 115.

An important point regarding the payment of royalties is the requirement of supplying information. Each copyright owner with any musical work listed in the database "shall engage in commercially reasonable efforts to deliver to the mechanical licensing collective ... information regarding the names of the sound recordings in which the copyright owner's musical works (or shares thereof) are embodied, to the extent practicable."

 The compiling of information and details of copyright ownership may not be fun things. But they are good things.


Location: Nashville, TN, USA

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