U.S. Copyright Office Designates Mechanical Licensing Collective, Inc. as the Mechanical Licensing Collective and Digital Licensee Coordinator, Inc. as the Digital Licensee Coordinator under the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act

On Monday, July 8, 2019, the Copyright Office is designating the Mechanical Licensing Collective, Inc. as the mechanical licensing collective (MLC), and Digital Licensee Coordinator, Inc. as the designated licensee coordinator (DLC) under the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act (MMA), Public Law No: 115-264. The Office is honored to help implement this historic legislation, which will benefit the music marketplace, including songwriters, publishers, artists, record labels, digital services, libraries, and the public. These designations are an important step in implementing the MMA.

The MMA, in part, eliminates the song-by-song compulsory mechanical license in section 115 (which covered the reproduction and distribution of musical works embodied in digital phonorecord deliveries) with a blanket license. The new blanket license will allow digital music providers to reproduce and distribute musical works as digital phonorecord deliveries, including permanent downloads, limited downloads, and interactive streams.

The Office is responsible for designating the MLC to administer the new blanket compulsory licensing system, including by collecting and distributing royalties from digital music providers, establishing a musical works database, and overseeing a process for copyright owners to claim ownership of musical works (and shares of musical works).

The MMA also authorizes the Office to designate an entity as the DLC, which will represent digital music services in the administration of the license.

To make these selections, the Office conducted an extensive public inquiry soliciting proposals from entities seeking to be designated as the MLC or DLC, as well as input from interested members of the public. In response, the Office received over 600 comments from stakeholders throughout the music industry, including numerous copyright owners who provided endorsements for one or more of the entities seeking designation. Based on the record and statutory selection criteria, the Office is designating Mechanical Licensing Collective, Inc. as the MLC, and Digital Licensee Coordinator, Inc. as the DLC.

The Office is pleased to complete this step of MMA implementation. “The MMA is the most significant piece of copyright legislation in decades,” said Register of Copyrights, Karyn A. Temple. “Music plays an important role in creating our common culture and history. This law will help ensure musical work owners are paid when their work is used. Designating the mechanical licensing collective and the digital licensee coordinator will help make that happen. We look forward to working with the entire music community to further implement and conduct outreach on this historic law.”

The blanket license will be available on January 1, 2021. Before then, the Office will continue to work on implementing the MMA. The Office will conduct additional rulemakings on the requirements for notices of license and non-blanket activity, and access and interoperability of the MLC database, among others.

Additionally, the Office will engage in public outreach and education to help songwriters navigate the new system, and will conduct a study on unclaimed royalties.

See our website on designation of the MLC and DLC, and our general MMA webpage, for more detailed information and FAQs. Our Federal Register Notice provides further detail including on how the Office made the designation.