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- Title
All the Bells and Whistles, but the Same Old Song and Dance: A Detailed Critique of Title I of the Music Modernization Act.
- Authors
Paveck, Spencer
- Abstract
The music industry continues to adapt to new technologies within its rapidly-changing digital environment. The gradual nature of this adaptation has led to severe issues within the industry, particularly concerning the payment of artist royalties by digital streaming services. These issues have manifested in highstakes copyright infringement litigation between industry stakeholders, resulting in billion-dollar damage payouts by digital streaming services. The Music Modernization Act, passed in late 2018, is widely hailed as a solution to some of these royalty-payment issues. Title I of the Act, the centerpiece of the legislation and the focus of this Note, introduces significant changes to the royalty distribution system for musical compositions. It modifies the existing compulsory licensing regime and creates an independent agency, the Mechanical Licensing Collective, to assume legal responsibility for distributing mechanical royalties to artists. This new mechanical royalty distribution framework is expected to reduce the frequency of contentious litigation within the industry. This Note will argue that, although the royalty framework established by the Music Modernization Act does represent a necessary modernization of the royalty payment process and provides for increased compensation to songwriters, the Act is fraught with issues. Notably, the Act favors the interests of multinational streaming corporations and music publishing houses at the expense of songwriters, particularly those who are independent, foreign-based, and inexperienced in navigating the complexities of the music industry. Even more troubling, the Music Modernization Act fails to simplify an overly-complicated music copyright scheme replete with exceptions and gaps and is merely the latest in a series of patchwork solutions.
- Subjects
LEGAL liability; MUSICAL composition; COPYRIGHT infringement; DANCE; MUSIC publishing; SONGWRITING
- Publication
Virginia Sports & Entertainment Law Journal, 2019, Vol 19, Issue 1, p74
- ISSN
1556-9799
- Publication type
Article