The Copyright Royalty Board’s 2018 ruling for mechanical royalties to be paid by streaming services has been on the books for awhile, but it will be returning to court this week. Four streaming services filed appeals against the ruling in March, and the U.S. Court of Appeals will begin hearing arguments from the legal counsel for Amazon and Spotify today. Continue Reading
Spotify’s interactions with publishers and songwriters have gotten even more complicated, with the streaming service claiming that it overpaid on mechanical royalties in 2018. The Copyright Royalty Board issued its mechanical royalty payment rates in December 2018 after the music platform had already paid out almost a full year under a different rate scheme. Continue Reading
Spotify is facing down another legal case, with a lawsuit filed in July 2017 moving forward in courts. Bluewater Music Services Corporation filed claims of copyright infringement by the streaming platform, listing nearly 2,400 songs where it said Spotify had not acquired the proper licenses. Continue Reading
The Music Modernization Act has passed by unanimous consent in the Senate, an approval that marks a huge step forward towards overhauling mechanical licensing in the United States. The legislation took a risky path of hotlining, where unanimous support is required for approval. Continue Reading
After a successful and speedy road through the House of Representatives, the Music Modernization Act has been introduced in the Senate. The legislation would create some sweeping changes to mechanical royalties, and it has received strong backing from both parties on the Hill. Continue Reading
Dubset has entered another relationship to further its goal of securing mechanical royalties from DJ sets and remixes. The rights startup has inked a deal with Rumblefish, a music licensing and administration company. Under the agreement, Rumblefish will use Dubset’s MixBANK platform to ensure that compositions used in mixes, remixes, and other user-generated content are cleared and administered. Continue Reading
The Copyright Royalty Board has announced the new rates for mechanical royalties to be paid by streaming music services. As announced on Jan. 27, streaming platforms will pay out royalties to songwriters and composers as a share of their revenue. By 2022, the share for mechanical royalties will be 15.1% of the streaming platform’s revenue. Read on for the full rate ruling and reactions from both publishers’ and songwriters’ organizations. Continue Reading
The Music Modernization Act has been introduced in the Senate. Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) introduced the bill. The legislation to overhaul mechanical licensing reached the House of Representatives in December, and the Senate version follows that bill. Continue Reading
Several U.S. music industry organizations have voiced their unified support for three pieces of proposed legislation. More than 20 groups issued a joint press release to endorse the Music Modernization Act of 2017, the CLASSICS Act, and the AMP Act. Continue Reading
Songwriter and publisher royalties have appeared once again as a sticking point for the Spotify streaming service. The New York Post’s Claire Atkinson is reporting that music publishers and songwriters are looking to receive a portion of Spotify’s equity when the company either goes public or finds an interested buyer. According to her sources, the National Music Publishers Association has been deeply interested in the question of equity since Spotify has been more seriously preparing for a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Continue Reading
Spotify has settled a class-action lawsuit over mechanical royalties with the creation of a fund for compensating the artists and labels who have not been paid those fees. If approved by the court, Spotify will set up a fund worth $43.4 million for payouts around compositions that it played without paying mechanical royalties. Continue Reading