Senate passes the Modernization of Music Act

The US Senate has unanimously approved the 2018 Law on the Modernization of Music (S.2334), which provides for the first reform of the music license in 20 years, becoming law. The accompanying version in the House has already been passed in April, also with unanimous consent. The bill must now be re-examined by the House and finally signed by President Trump. Both are likely to occur, so the Senate was the last major hurdle.

Although the Music Modernization Act has been widely supported by artists, songwriters and all other sectors of the music industry (and many government officials), it has encountered opposition from summer. Blackstone Group, whose mechanical license company Harry Fox Agency could be heavily impacted by the MMA, as well as Sirius XM and Music Choice, have pushed the bill. While the problems with the Blackstone group found a solution, the dispute with Sirius XM and Music Choice was still in the foreground. Sirius XM is opposed to part of the bill called the Classes Act, which makes them legally responsible for paying copyright to songwriters and artists on pre-1972 recordings.

Now that he passed the Senate, the bill was renamed the Orrin G. Hatch Music Modernization Act after Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), a songwriter himself who was an ardent defender of the MMA and qualified him "

The bill reorganizes section 115 of the US Copyright Act, combining three main laws:

• The Modernization of Music Act, which streamlines the music licensing process to facilitate the payment of rights holders when their music is broadcast online.
• CLASSICS Act (the Artists' Compensation Act for their songs, service and significant contributions to society) for pre-1972 registrations.

• The AMP (or Allocation for Music Producers Act), which improves royalty payments for SoundExchange producers and engineers when their recordings are used by satellite and online radio. Notably, it is the first time that producers have been mentioned in the copyright.

Mitch Glazier, president of the RIAA, said in a statement: "As the legendary band The Grateful Dead said in a song before 1972," what a long and strange journey ". an epic odyssey, and we are delighted to be almost to our destination.

"For the modern US Senate, unanimously adopting a 185-page bill is a Herculean feat, only achievable because of the determination, determination and mobilization of thousands of music creators across the country. The result is a bill that brings us to a modern music licensing landscape better based on fair market rates and fair compensation for all. A brighter future for generations of past and future music creators has finally arrived. We are grateful to Senators Hatch, Grassley, Feinstein, Alexander, Coons, Kennedy and Whitehouse for helping us make this happen. "