

Pending Changes In Copyright Law
The Music Modernization Act (AKA H.R.4706) is making its way through the US Congress. You can read the entire thing HERE.
Thankfully, what this bill will potentially accomplish has been summarized as follows by people who understand the text of the bill much better than me:
“The Music Modernization Act is a bipartisan effort that will greatly improve the way mechanical and performance royalties are calculated. Today, digital services like Spotify, Apple, Pandora, Amazon and Google often do not know who to pay and money is lost to lack of information and inefficiency. The Music Modernization Act will create an entity, funded by the digital music companies, that will properly pay mechanical royalties for interactive streaming. It also gives songwriters a better shot at getting higher royalty rates in the Copyright Royalty Board proceedings. Additionally, it reforms the system that determines performance royalty rates for ASCAP and BMI by allowing rate courts to review market evidence into the valuation of how songwriters are compensated as well as giving them improvements to the rate court process.”
That text comes from a petition supporting the bill, which you can read (and sign if you agree) HERE.
Songwriters are supporting it, so I’m for it, too, even though I can’t wrap my head around all the legalese in the text of the bill.
I encourage you to sign it as well.
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David Bruce Murray
David Bruce Murray is a church music director in Ellenboro, NC. He is the author of Murray's Encyclopedia Of Southern Gospel Music and the owner of both SGHistory.com and MusicScribe.com. David plays piano for Southern Sounds Quartet and the Foothills Community Choir.
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