Rhapsody settles mechanical licensing class action

Rhapsody and Napster have settled a long-standing class-action lawsuit over mechanical licensing. The settlement, filed in the U.S. District Court of Northern California, will see the streaming services make payouts to self-published songwriters whose compositions were played on the music platform. The settlement includes $35 for every composition registered with the U.S. Copyright Office and $1 for every unregistered composition that was played at least 24 times with a cap of $10 million.

This class-action was pursued on behalf of David Lowery and fellow songwriters Victor Krummenacher and David Faragher. It marks the end of a suit that was filed against Rhapsody and Napster about three years ago.