Copyright Office on Music Licensing Reform

On Tuesday, Jun. 21, at 10:00 AM, the House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property will hold an oversight hearing about Copyright Office Views on Music Licensing Reform with Register of Copyrights Marybeth Peters.

Update (6/21): Statement of Marybeth Peters:

the present language of Section 115, with its compulsory license to allow for the use of nondramatic musical works for the making and distribution of physical phonorecords and digital phonorecord deliveries, is outdated. Reform is necessary, and I am pleased that you have asked me for my recommendations on how to amend Section 115 to facilitate the licensing of nondramatic musical works in a way that will serve the interests of composers and music publishers, record companies and other providers of recorded music, and the consuming public, especially with respect to digital audio transmissions of music.

Peters proposes eliminating the statutory license in favor of "marketplace collective administration," which will remedy today's problems and "provide a workablee solution for tomorrow's issues."

"Compulsory licenses should only be instituted as a last resort, when the marketplace has failed. We cannot say that the marketplace has failed with respect to reproduction and distribution of nondramatic musical works because the marketplace has never been given a chance to succeed."

The proposal would eliminate the section 115 compulsory license and replace it by a voluntary collective licensing scheme. Draft legislation set out the rights and obligations of music rights organizations. Performing rights organizations ("PRO") would become music rights organizations ("MRO") and would have the authority not just to collect royalty on behalf of songwriters, but to set terms for licensing the public performance, reproduction and distribution rights of nondramatic musical works.

More from Joe Gratz: Register of Copyrights to House: Repeal The Mechanical Compulsory, Restructure Music Rights Collectives

One major concern that any repeal of the section 115 compulsory raises is the issue of “cover” versions of songs. The fact that songwriters are compensated for, but do not control, new recordings of their songs has led to a flourishing of creativity — look, for example, at Seu Jorge’s versions of Bowie songs or Nouvelle Vague’s bossa nova renditions of 80s New Wave classics. The Register’s proposal cleverly avoids this problem by forcing songwriters who license their works for public performance through a PRO (which is pretty much everybody) to license “cover” versions through the same PRO.

Cathy Kirkman, Silicon Valley Media Law Blog: Register of Copyrights advocates repeal of compulsory licensing under Section 11

This proposal needs careful review. Peters indicates in her testimony that: "As always, my focus is primarily on the author. The author should be fairly compensated for all non-privileged uses of his work." However we hope that the public interest side of the copyright equation is being considered by the Copyright Office in this proposal.

Update: 6/22. Derek Slater, A Copyfighter's Musings: Register of Copyright Proposes Revision to Section 115 Compulsory:

Peters wants to dispose of the compulsory license for numerous reasons, but particularly because free market negotations would be preferable.  But she doesn't view the free market in a wholly simplistic way, in which efficient outcomes would be reached if only we granted broad entitlements and got out of rights holders' way. Rather, in her proposal, she recognizes that carefully structuring and allocating rights can be crucial to achieving efficiency.