Independent Music Creator and Musical Artist Communities Send a Letter to Congress on CRB Settlements

On June 24, a group of independent music creator and musical artist groups, including Copyright Alliance members Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL), Songwriters Guild of America (SGA), and the Artist Rights Alliance (ARA), sent a letter to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), Representative Jerold Nadler (D-NY), and Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH), on the recently proposed settlement regarding the mechanical royalty rates on physical recordings and downloads.

The letter notes that although the development was positive, it “exposed serious shortcomings in the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) process and, more broadly, in other legislative, regulatory, and institutional processes that impact the music creator community.” It goes on to urge Congress to consider legislation “to, among other things, amend the Music Modernization Act to require a democratic, transparent process that results in equal and independent representation of songwriters and publishers on the governing board of the Music Licensing Collective (MLC).”