Article: The Music Modernization Act is a Good Solution For Songwriters. Don’t Combine It With Bad Copyright Bills

Update:  A legislative hurdle passed.

 

"The Music Modernization Act was unanimously passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday (April 25), with 415 voting in favor and 16 representatives not voting. With this passing, it now goes to the Senate for a vote before it can become the law of the land."

(Via Music Modernization Act Unanimously Passes US House of Representatives | Billboard.)

Some dense, but important stuff.

"For the first time in six years, Congress is considering serious changes to copyright law. As you might imagine, those changes are a mixed bag for the public. One bill, the Music Modernization Act, would create a new system for compensating songwriters and music publishers when their songs are played on digital services. It solves a problem recognized by nearly everyone in the music space. And while the bill has some problematic text that needs fixing, it’s a good effort.

Unfortunately, the MMA has now been combined with a harmful bill, the ‘CLASSICS Act,’ which would create a new form of pseudo-copyright for recordings from before 1972, adding on new royalties and penalties without giving anything back to the public. And other dangerous bills could get added as amendments: the ‘CASE Act’ and the ‘Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act.’"

(Via The Music Modernization Act is a Good Solution For Songwriters. Don’t Combine It With Bad Copyright Bills. | Electronic Frontier Foundation.)