Music Modernization Act: Mechanical Licensing | Music Publishing | Songwriting | Copyright Law

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In this video, Berklee Online instructor Eric Beall continues talking about the Music Modernization Act, a bill passed to law in 2018 that updates Section 115 of the US Copyright Act to help bring copyright laws into the digital age of streaming. He explains how this new law affects mechanical licenses in music, and in this edition of this series he goes into mechanical licenses in some depth. Many Digital Service Providers (DSPs), such as Spotify and Apple Music, have been failing to properly distribute mechanical royalties to songwriters and publishers. Beall explains the Music Modernization Act’s plan to resolve these issues, but he also poses questions on its viability due to continued turmoil in the industry.
Right now, in order to put any song on their site, services like Spotify or Apple are required to obtain what are called mechanical licenses from all of the music publishers involved in that song and then to pay a royalty out to those publishers. Failure to obtain the license or to pay the royalty to the correct people means the service is infringing the copyright. That makes the service liable for big financial penalties. In 2018, Spotify paid $112 million to settle a class action suit for having used certain songs without a mechanical license in place, and having not paid the royalties that would have been owed.
Watch all of the videos in this series:
What is the Music Modernization Act • What is the Music Mode...
Music Modernization Act: Performing Rights • Music Modernization Ac...
Music Modernization Act: Improving Pay • Music Modernization Ac...
About Eric Beall:
Eric Beall is the author of “Making Music Make Money (An Insider’s Guide to Becoming Your Own Music Publisher)” and a respected music industry veteran, having held senior creative posts at Zomba Music, Jive Records, and Sony/ATV Music. Currently, he handles A&R for Shapiro Bernstein, one of the industry’s most venerable and respected independent music publishers. In his role as a music publishing executive, Eric has signed and developed top writers like Stargate, Steve Robson, Billy Mann, Steve Diamond, Richard Julian, and many others. At the same time, in his role at Jive Records and Zomba Music, he has coordinated and directed Zomba writers in the development of material for Jive Records superstars like Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, and Britney Spears.
Prior to joining the executive ranks, Eric wrote and produced the pop hits “Nothin’ My Love Can’t Fix” for Joey Lawrence (Top Ten Billboard Hot 100) and “Carry On” for Martha Wash (No. 1 Billboard Dance Chart), as well as songs for Diana Ross, the Jacksons, Safire, Samantha Fox, Brenda K. Starr, and many others. He also co-founded Class-X Recordings, an independent dance label in New York.
About Berklee Online:
Berklee Online is the continuing education division of Berklee College of Music, delivering online access to Berklee's acclaimed curriculum from anywhere in the world, offering online courses, certificate programs, and degree programs. Contact an Academic Advisor today:
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Berklee Online | Music Modernization Act | Berklee College of Music | Music Business | Eric Beall | Songwriting | Mechanical Royalties | Mechanical Licensing | Blanket License | Music Publishing | Music Law | Making Music Make Money | Sony/ATV Music | Jive Records | Britney Spears | Diana Ross

[@beck7494]

Eric Beall is such a well-spoken intellectual. I'm honoured to learn from him every time.

[@paulaqui1628]

HFA does not issue licenses for users on UA-cam, or any other online video service. However, UA-cam has entered into a license agreement with many music publishers for when UA-cam users upload videos that contain those music publisher’s songs.
This license enables UA-cam users to legally include musical compositions in their user-generated content, as long as the user complies with the monetization process.
For more information on UA-cam's content ID system, please click here.
For information on whether a particular publisher has a license agreement with UA-cam, please contact the publisher directly. You can locate publisher contact information by using the public search function at the following websites:

[@MichaelBerg123]

Wow. Great video

[@glenlambert8200]

Thank you sir

[@KemiSulola]

But there are organisations that collect your mechanical rights for you now, are they not doing what the MLC are going to do? So we do already have them no? e.g PRS in the uk can collect your mechanical rights, in the US dont you have the Harry Fox Agency?

[@ralmcg]

I think the Harry Fox Agency collects royalties for putting music on physical formats only (i.e. vinyl, CDs)

[@frankiethewolf7712]

lets say i recorded guitar over a record, what would i need to do next ? send the original publishers a NOI or do i contact a agency to speak with publishers directly. I'm confused on this. I want to release this new version of a song but have no idea how to obtain a notice of intent and who to speak with from the government to obtain a compulsory mechanical license. in other words would i need to speak with music lawyer? thanks any advice will help.

[@wchampton7112]

speak with music lawyer

[@sorenakarimi6612]

👌👌👌