The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) has received significant support from a number of rightsholders and dozens of respected songwriter advocacy, publisher and industry organizations that filed public comments and expressed their support of The MLC in connection with the first periodic review of the designation of The MLC and Digital Licensee Coordinator (DLC) by the Register of Copyrights. The Music Modernization Act (MMA) requires the Register to review the designations of The MLC and DLC once every five years.
The MLC received support from numerous songwriters and songwriter advocacy groups, including the Artist Rights Alliance (ARA), Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC), Music Artists Coalition (MAC), Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), the Recording Academy, Songwriters of North America (SONA) and the 100 Percenters, among others.
Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), a not-for-profit songwriters trade association that is dedicated to protecting the rights of and serving aspiring and professional songwriters in all genres of music, stated, “Self-published songwriters had long been frustrated with digital rights management companies...The MLC took this concern to heart and prioritized hiring many human customer service representatives specifically trained and assigned to assist self-published songwriters and even published songwriters who have questions and concerns related to their digital mechanical royalties. NSAI feels confident that more self-published songwriters are collecting digital mechanical royalties now than ever…it is efficiently and effectively licensing, collecting and distributing royalties in a way our industry has not seen before.”
Various music publisher organizations also showed public support of The MLC, including the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP), Church Music Publishers Association (CMPA), Independent Music Publishers International Forum (IMPF), International Confederation of Music Publishers (ICMP), Music Publishers Association (MPA), National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) and others.
The National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA), the principal trade association representing the interests of music publishers and their songwriting partners in the United States, said, “NMPA fully supports the redesignation of the Mechanical Licensing Collective. Since its initial designation in 2018, the MLC has worked tirelessly to develop its capabilities and build the administrative entity conceived in the MMA. By any measure, it has been hugely successful in meeting its expansive statutory responsibilities in a timely and efficient manner.”
The Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP), a non-profit organization that aims to educate and advocate for independent music publishers, expressed their “strong and unequivocal support for the redesignation of The MLC,” saying, “Since its inception, The MLC has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to its mission of administering mechanical licenses. The MLC has effectively fulfilled its role, as outlined by the MMA, by streamlining the licensing process and enhancing transparency in the management of mechanical royalties. Its diligent efforts in building a robust administrative framework have significantly contributed to a more efficient and equitable music licensing environment.”
The Church Music Publishers Association (CMPA), a trade organization of publishers of Christian and Church music, have expressed their support of The MLC, saying, “Since The MLC’s launch, their staff has held more than 15 presentations directly with the publishers within our organization to illustrate and educate our members on the tools we can use. The MLC has fielded countless one-on-one meetings with individual publishers to address their specific catalog needs and problems. This level of outreach by The MLC has made a huge difference in the growth of revenue for our songwriters and publishers.”
The MLC also received support and several public comments from a diverse array of music publishers and administrators of all sizes. These public comments reflect the support of The MLC from a range of rightsholders.
Downtown Music Holdings, a leading global music services company stated, “The MLC is a crucial partner to publishers and songwriters in our continued mission to create and protect music.”
Big Machine Music, a division of Big Machine Label Group, said, “The MLC has met and surpassed the regulations of the Music Modernization Act. Music publishing administration has been made better by the operations, tools, communication and service provided by The MLC and its team.”
Music publishing company, peermusic, said, “The MLC’s transparency, reliability and accuracy of reporting has been exceptional, opening new opportunities for peermusic to understand, analyze, and build on the data we receive.”
Reservoir, an independent music company based in New York City and with offices in Los Angeles, Nashville, Toronto, London and Abu Dhabi, said, “Since its designation, The MLC has maintained transparent practices, including timely and efficient payments and its robust database has quickly become one of the most complete repositories of musical work metadata that is available to the public.”
Support from music industry groups, associations and organizations includes, Academy of Country Music, Administrators of Gospel Music (AGM), Americana Music Association, Copyright Alliance, Folk Alliance International, Gospel Music Association (GMA), Leadership Music, Music Business Association, Music Managers Forum-US (MMF-US), Production Music Association and Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
The Administrators of Gospel Music (AGM), a professional membership organization representing professionals and students directly involved in all genres of Christian music as administrators, music publishers, record labels, independent creatives and licensee consumers, said, “The MLC has set forth for us a verifiable and exemplary track record of transparency, efficiency, professionalism and dependability. The MLC demonstrated efficiency and transparency in quickly developing, implementing and demonstrating digital tools that have immensely improved the ability of our members to connect copyright data for collection in the traditionally underserved Christian music market.”
The Register of Copyrights began the periodic review of The MLC and the DLC this January by publishing a notice in the Federal Register. The Register issued its notice to begin the proceedings to review the designation of The MLC on January 30, 2024. The MLC and DLC each filed initial submissions supporting their respective continued designations on April 1, 2024. Following receipt of these initial submissions, the Register opened the initial public comment period seeking comments on The MLC’s and DLC’s initial submissions by May 29, 2024. The public then had the opportunity to file replies to other initial comments by June 28, 2024. The dozens of organizations and individuals that filed comments and replies provided the Register with meaningful feedback on The MLC’s progress to date.
Now that the public comment period has concluded, The MLC and DLC had the opportunity to file final submissions on July 29, 2024, The Register will review all submissions and publish its decision on whether to continue the designations of The MLC and DLC in the Federal Register. The Register cannot change the provisions of the MMA, the structure of governance that is set forth in the MMA, or the blanket license royalty rates or terms.
For more information, visit https://www.themlc.com/designation.
