U.S. Copyright Office hands creators a victory
New York City/Nashville/Los Angeles -- The
Songwriters Guild of America, theSociety of Composers & Lyricists
and the
Music
Music Creators of North America coalition enthusiastically welcomed a recent announcement by the
U.S. Copyright Office. A report from the Copyright Office recommends delaying the
Mechanical Licensing Collective's “market share” redistribution of unmatched royalties. According to the
Copyright Office Report, “The first distribution of unclaimed royalties
should not occur for at least five years from the date that the ability
to claim [ownership of works] in the portal is made available to the
public. After five years, the MLC should apply relevant criteria to
determine whether the first distribution should be further deferred.”
“This important recommendation would give songwriters and composers more
time to claim the royalties they’re owed,” said SGA president and
songwriter Rick Carnes. “Since most of us are earning far less than a
living wage, every cent of royalties we can collect is immensely
important.”
It
was recently reported that there are at least $425 million in unmatched
royalties currently being held by the MLC for songwriters who have not
been found for payment. But, within its structure, the MLC has an
inherent conflict of interest. Basically, the MLC is governed mainly by
big-money music interests like streaming platforms and major publishers.
If these distributors fail to find the songwriters who are owed these
millions, they can – after a time – divvy up the unpaid millions between
themselves and other big-money music interests on a “market share”
basis. That means that the already-richest in music will get the largest
share of this unclaimed money and any songwriters who were due these
royalties lose the right to claim them. The copyright Office’s recent
recommendation would increase the length of time the MLC must hold the
money in order to allow rightful songwriters to claim their royalties.
"The
Copyright Office came to exactly the right conclusion on this point,
though there’s a long way to go before full implementation of the
identification process ensures that music creators are being paid,” said
Carnes.
SCL president and composer
Ashley Irwin further praised the Copyright Office’s statement that details the
elements needed for a robust MLC campaign to educate the music
community. Education of the MLC registration process is necessary so
that songwriters and composers are paid what they’re owed. The Copyright
Office report reads: “In recognition of the music industry’s broad and
diverse spectrum of songwriters and copyright owners, the MLC should
engage--to the broadest extent reasonably practicable--in conducting its
education and outreach activities.”
Irwin and Carnes were also
grateful that the Copyright Office cited the joint comments of the SGA,
the SCL and the MCNA in regards to this issue: “The outreach effort
must not only be global in scope, but also be specifically targeted to
include those economically disadvantaged, and thus hardest to reach,
through traditional means. This includes reasonable and creative efforts
to reach members of oppressed minority groups and indigenous
communities across the U.S., Canada and the world.”
MCNA president and songwriter
Eddie Schwartz and co-Chair/composer
Greg Johnston also endorsed the Copyright Office’s recommendation that a third-party
auditor should verify the MLC’s market-share distribution calculations
on any “permanently” unmatched royalties. The Copyright Office statement
specifically read that the MLC’s calculations: “…should be verified by
an independent third-party accountant or auditor. The Office recommends
that the finally-adopted calculation methodology itself be independently
reviewed as well to confirm it operates as intended.”
According to the groups, however, the Report also had some
disappointing omissions. Among them, the Copyright Office declined, for
the time being, to mandate an MLC performance metric that evaluates
whether music creators actually receive their proper shares of royalties
in future market-share distribution scenarios. It also did not adopt a
request for creation of independent music creator advisory committees to
provide feedback on issues such as “private industry settlements.”
Most
notably, the Office did not address the inherent dangers of conflicts
of interest present on an MLC board with ten music publishers (including
all of the major global conglomerates) and only four
songwriter-composers.
“Remedying the dangerous and exceptionally unfair construction
of the MLC board is high on the legislative agenda of America’s
independent songwriters, composers and lyricists,” said Carnes. “We have
to address this lack of representation.”
