In the past music streaming services like Spotify have been sued for failing to secure mechanical licensing agreements for music streamed on their networks. This has led to multi million dollar lawsuits against the company. Spotify has complained that they simply have no means of identifying the proper copyright owner for compensation due to the lack of a music database. The Music Modernization Act seeks to remedy this situation by creating a database of music so that the streaming services can properly accredit an artist for their music. According to the bill, music streaming services will buy blanket licenses for music which will protect them from lawsuits. In exchange for this privilege, the music services will pay for the formation and upkeep of the database which is estimated to cost in the tens of millions.



The legislation would establish a licensing collective, to be overseen by songwriters and publishers, and paid for by the digital services, with rights information maintained by the copyright owners. Digital services, which now must track down rights holders or file notices in bulk with the Copyright Office, will be able to receive blanket licenses from the collective. In exchange, the services will gain protections against lawsuits.

Discussion

Source: [H]ardOCP – Music Modernization Act Addresses Digital Streaming Copyright and Payments