We hope you all have been enjoying your summer! It’s been a busy season at The MLC. We’re excited to share some updates with you.
In this Quarter Note, we offer an important update about the Copyright Office’s recently issued final rule on statutory terminations and share a link to our recently published 2023 Annual Report. We also provide updates about other work we’re doing to process royalties and adjustments following the finalization of the Phono 3 rates, our new collaboration with Beatdapp, and the U.S. Copyright Office’s first periodic review of The MLC’s designation.
Thank you for taking the time to read our updates each quarter. We are continuously grateful for your support and help spreading the word about The MLC.
On July 9, the U.S. Copyright Office issued a final rule regarding the application of the derivative works exception to the statutory termination rights provided in the Copyright Act and its relation to the blanket license established under the Music Modernization Act (MMA). The MLC welcomes this definitive guidance from the Office. To learn what this new rule means for you and what’s next, click here:
The MLC’s 2023 Annual Report is now available on our website. The report offers a look into our third full year of operations, key performance metrics from 2023, a financial summary and more. You can access the report by clicking here:
In April, we began distributing matched Phono 3 historical royalties in sets. For each DSP that transferred unmatched royalties to The MLC from the Phono 3 rate period, we aim to distribute matched historical royalties for previously unpaid uses reported by the DSP concerned in one of our monthly royalty distributions, and then we distribute royalties for previously partially paid uses from that same DSP in the next monthly royalty distribution. So far, we have distributed approximately $85 million in matched historical royalties from the Phono 3 rate period. We expect to continue processing additional matched historical royalties from the Phono 3 rate period each month through the end of this calendar year and then into 2025, until we have distributed all of the previously unmatched historical royalties for uses from the Phono 3 period that we have been able to match.
To date, we have already distributed more than 86 percent of the previously unmatched royalties for uses that took place during the Phono 1 rate period, more than 49 percent of the previously unmatched royalties for uses that took place during the Phono 2 rate period, and now more than 24 percent of the previously unmatched royalties for uses that took place during the Phono 3 rate period for a total of $112 million dollars in historical royalties. We expect these amounts and percentages will continue to improve as we continue to process (or reprocess) the remaining unmatched historical royalties from each rate period.
To catch up on the progress we’ve made distributing historical unmatched royalties so far, click here.
The MLC is excited to share that our panel, "Bit by Bit: Crafting a Transparent Future for Music Rightsholders," is up for selection at SXSW 2025. Featuring experts from The MLC, ClicknClear, Jaxsta and ONErpm, we’ll explore the future of music rights through transparency and innovative data programs.
Search for our panel by title or click here to vote directly.
Vote by clicking the 'up arrow' to select yes.
We appreciate your support in helping us bring this important discussion to SXSW 2025!
On August 6, The MLC announced a collaboration with Beatdapp, an independent fraud detection company, to complement and enhance The MLC’s existing streaming fraud detection capabilities.This collaboration reflects The MLC's commitment to protecting its Members and supports The MLC’s mission of ensuring songwriters, composers, lyricists and music publishers receive their mechanical royalties from streaming and download services in the U.S. accurately and on time.
On Monday, July 29, we filed our final submission to the United States Copyright Office in connection with the first periodic review of the designation of The MLC and Digital Licensee Coordinator (DLC) by the Register of Copyrights. In this submission, we provided several operational updates that we had achieved since filing our initial submission earlier this year and addressed some of the topics that were discussed in the public comments that were filed between April 1 and June 28. We are grateful to everyone who took the time to share their support of The MLC and comment on the progress we’ve made in the first five years.
To read more information about the periodic review of designation, click here. All filings, from the public, the DLC and The MLC, can be found here.
