Comments Submitted by the Songwriters Guild of America, Inc., the Society of Composers & Lyricists, Music Creators North America
Re: Periodic Review of the Designations of the Mechanical Licensing Collective and Digital Licensee Coordinator (Docket No. 2024-1)
The Honorable Dick Durbin, Chair, Committee on the Judiciary
The Honorable Lindsey Graham, Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary
The Honorable Jim Jordan, Chair, Committee on the Judiciary
The Honorable Jerry Nadler, Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Members of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees:
Our organizations are writing to applaud the US Copyright Office on the recent issuance of its final rule aimed at ensuring that songwriters and composers who invoke termination rights to regain control of their music will finally get paid streaming royalties after they do so.
As you know, the Copyright Act permits authors or their heirs, under certain circumstances and within certain windows of time, to terminate copyright grants, including transfers or licenses. At the same time, the Act provides that termination is subject to certain exceptions. The US Copyright Office issued a final rule earlier this month confirming that the Mechanical Licensing Collective (“MLC”), the entity responsible for administering the blanket license under the Music Modernization Act (“MMA”), adopted a termination dispute policy based on an erroneous interpretation of the exceptions that resulted in overpayments to pre-termination copyright owners and underpayments to music recreators.
We are gratified that in its comments and final rule regarding the issue of the MLC and Termination Rights, the US Copyright Office repeatedly recognized that the right of termination is a core principle of fairness under the US Copyright Act. Those hard-won rights codified in the 1976 Copyright Act through the efforts of SGA, SCL, MNCA and our fellow author advocacy organizations were designed for one simple purpose– to protect creators from permanent and often predatory exploitation.
We believe that for decades, copyright assignees – like publishers – have been attempting to delay the effect of termination rights, often to the point of disputing duly effected terminations as a matter of course rather than of fact. We believe this was done solely to gain commercial advantage in the form of a windfall of royalties to which the terminated party was not entitled.
Under such circumstances, we were not surprised that the MLC, controlled by a board heavily weighted in favor of music publishers – not songwriters or composers – had argued strenuously for an interpretation of the termination rules that permitted publishers to reap the maximum, unfair advantage against creators seeking to exercise their termination rights through groundless delay. Unfortunately, we believe that until and unless Congress amends the law to provide for a truly balanced MLC board, it will continue to favor its corporate music publishing constituents (which enjoy 10 board seats) compared with its music creator constituents (which only have 4 board seats). This system of publisher majority rule is contrary to the structures and rules of government-sanctioned royalty collectives everywhere else in the world.). We hope to work with Congress to adjust the make-up of the MLC board so that it more fairly reflects and represents the interests of songwriters and composers.
In closing, we commend the US Copyright Office for its ruling that will not just change the MLC’s approach going forward, but also require “corrective royalty adjustments” to address any money that was paid improperly under the old policy. We thank the US Copyright Office for continuing to oversee the work of the MLC to ensure its proper interpretation and administration of the law. (In that regard, we are appending for your convenient reference the attached, recent letter to the US Copyright Office from SGA requesting an industry-wide meeting with the Register of Copyright to address these issues, a request we hope will be timely granted). Finally, we look forward to working with Congress to amend the law to provide for a governing board of the MLC that truly balances the numbers music creators and publishers.
Respectfully,
Rick Carnes
President, Songwriters Guild of America
Officer, Music Creators North America
Ashley Irwin
President, Society of Composers & Lyricists
Co-Chair, Music Creators North America
See attached letter from Songwriters Guild of America (SGA) President Rick Carnes requesting the U.S. Copyright Office convene a meeting of interested parties to discuss implementation of its directives to the MLC regarding termination rights, and to discuss industry-wide concerns and reforms regarding the timely processing by music publishers of termination notices properly served on them by songwriters, composers, and heirs.
About our organizations
SGA is the longest established and largest music creator advocacy and copyright administrative organization in the United States run solely by and for songwriters, composers, and their heirs. Its positions are reasoned and formulated independently and solely in the interests of music creators, without financial influence or other undue interference from parties whose interests vary from or are in conflict with those of songwriters, composers, and other authors of creative works. Established in 1931, SGA has for over 90 years successfully operated with a two-word mission statement: “Protect Songwriters,” and continues to do so throughout the United States and the world. SGA’s organizational membership stands at approximately 4500 members. For more information: www.songwritersguild.com
SCL is the premier U.S. organization for music creators working in all forms of visual media. With chapters in Los Angeles, New York and Nashville, and members in every state of the U.S. as well as over 80 countries around the world, the SCL operates as the primary voice for close to 4,000 members who work as creators of scores and songs for film, television, video games, and theatre. The SCL is a founding co-member — along with SGA and other independent music creator groups — of Music Creators North America (MCNA). For more information: https://thescl.com
MCNA is an alliance of independent songwriter and composer organizations that advocates and educates on behalf of North America’s music creator community. As the only internationally recognized voice of American and Canadian songwriters and composers, MCNA, through its affiliation with the International Council of Music Creators (CIAM), is part of a coalition that represents the professional interests and aspirations of more than half a million creators across Africa, Asia, Austral-Oceania, North and South America, and Europe. For more information: www.musiccreatorsna.org
SGA, SCL and MCNA are also founding members of the international organization Fair Trade Music International, which is the leading US and international advocacy group for the principles of transparency, equitable treatment, and financial sustainability for all songwriters and composers. For more information: www.fairtrademusicinternational.org
