December 2022 -- The SGA - along with its ally organizations, the
Society of Composers and Lyricists and Music Creators North America - in
December approached the US House and Senate Judiciary Committees
seeking reforms to the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) music royalty
rate-setting process.
In a letter to the Committees, SGA Outside Counsel
Charlie Sanders reported on a recent deal that would have shut creators
out of a decision to continue to freeze their royalty increases. That
deal would have had record labels continue to pay music creators and
publishers at 2006 rates through the year 2027, providing just 9.1 cents
per copy for musical compositions distributed in the U.S. via download
or physical copy. Such royalties, once split among co-writers and
publishers, would have amounted on average to a rate of less than two
cents per copy for each individual songwriter and composer.
