26-428: The Orrin G. Hatch–Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act , or Music Modernization Act or MMA ( H.R. 1551 , Pub. L. 115–264 (text) (PDF) ) is United States legislation signed into law on October 11, 2018, aimed to modernize copyright -related issues for music and audio recordings due to new forms of technology such as digital streaming . It is a consolidation of three separate bills introduced during
52-455: A clause that remained through the final passed bill. On December 31, 2017, Wixen Music Publishing, representing artists like Tom Petty and Neil Young , filed a lawsuit against Spotify to seek unpaid royalties for their artists' songs, asking for US$ 1.6 billion in damages. The suit was filed to be able to recover damages for infractions that occurred before the MMA's January 1, 2018 date. This suit
78-477: A lack of a central database with which to track down songwriters and composers, and had even set aside part of their working capital to deal with legal issues in order to offer full music catalogs, in contrast to Amazon.com 's music selection. There was a last-minute conflict in the Senate, brought up by SESAC and SiriusXM , relating to royalties for pre-1972 sound recordings, but a deal was made between SiriusXM,
104-482: Is promulgated , or given the force of law, in one of the following ways: The president promulgates acts of Congress made by the first two methods. If an act is made by the third method, the presiding officer of the house that last reconsidered the act promulgates it. Under the United States Constitution , if the president does not return a bill or resolution to Congress with objections before
130-547: Is deprecated by some dictionaries and usage authorities. However, the Bluebook requires "Act" to be capitalized when referring to a specific legislative act. The United States Code capitalizes "act". The term "act of Congress" is sometimes used in informal speech to indicate something for which getting permission is burdensome. For example, "It takes an act of Congress to get a building permit in this town." An act adopted by simple majorities in both houses of Congress
156-430: The 111th United States Congress . Public laws are also often abbreviated as Pub. L. No. X–Y. When the legislation of those two kinds are proposed, it is called public bill and private bill respectively. The word "act", as used in the term "act of Congress", is a common, not a proper noun . The capitalization of the word "act" (especially when used standing alone to refer to an act mentioned earlier by its full name)
182-616: The 115th United States Congress . The MMA is a combination of three bills previously introduced in Congress. The three bills became the three titles of the final act. The Musical Works Modernization Act (MWMA) is the Act first introduced into the House by Rep. Bob Goodlatte on December 17, 2017 ( H.R. 4706 ), and later to the Senate by Sen. Orrin Hatch on January 24, 2018. Both versions of
208-734: The National Music Publishers Association and the Recording Industry Association of America which allowed the bill to be passed by the Senate by a unanimous vote, allowing the bill to quickly pass through Congress via "hotlining" before the end of the session. When the House MMA bill was introduced in December 2017, it included a provision that liabilities for streaming companies would be limited to infractions after January 1, 2018,
234-672: The Constitution may be declared unconstitutional by the courts. A judicial declaration that an act of Congress is unconstitutional does not remove the act from the Statutes at Large or the United States Code; rather, it prevents the act from being enforced. However, the act as published in annotated codes and legal databases is marked with annotations indicating that it is no longer good law. United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and
260-720: The President and CEO of The Recording Academy , began calling for the music industry to combine lobbying efforts with the goal of passing new legislation and regulatory reform. The following day he gave a speech to lawmakers at Grammys on the Hill calling for unity legislation. On June 10, 2014, Portnow testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet . On January 8, 2018, representatives from numerous sections of
286-580: The bill looked to improve how music licensing and royalties would be paid in consideration of streaming media services. The bill established three major provisions: In addition, elements of the "Fair Play Fair Pay Act", H.R. 1836 , introduced on March 30, 2017, by Rep. Jerrold Nadler , were added to this Title. The Fair Play Fair Pay Act had been designed to harmonize how royalties were paid by terrestrial radio broadcasters and Internet streaming services. Under previous law, songwriters and composers would receive mechanical license royalties for radio play, but
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#1732773270085312-517: The bill to an existing, unrelated bill, H.R. 1551 , which the House agreed to. The Senate voted in favor of the bill on September 19, 2018, and was subsequently signed into law by President Donald Trump on October 11, 2018. Among those in attendance at the signing were musicians Kid Rock , Mike Love , Sam Moore , John Rich , Craig Morgan and Jeff Baxter , and the Christian band MercyMe . While Kanye West had been reported to be attending
338-417: The first high-profile legal challenges to the MMA was raised in a lawsuit from Eminem 's publisher Eight Mile Style against Spotify , asserting that Spotify has allowed Eminem's music to be streamed without paying the proper royalties, as the service lists some of these works under "Copyright control" with no known owner. While the suit's primary complaint is with Spotify, the suit further argued that part of
364-537: The general public ( public laws ). For a bill to become an act, the text must pass through both houses with a majority, then be either signed into law by the president of the United States , be left unsigned for ten days (excluding Sundays) while Congress remains in session, or, if vetoed by the president, receive a congressional override from 2 ⁄ 3 of both houses. In the United States, acts of Congress are designated as either public laws , relating to
390-407: The general public, or private laws , relating to specific institutions or individuals. Since 1957, all Acts of Congress have been designated as "Public Law X–Y" or "Private Law X–Y", where X is the number of the Congress and Y refers to the sequential order of the bill (when it was enacted). For example, P. L. 111–5 ( American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ) was the fifth enacted public law of
416-588: The law is accomplished by the president, or the relevant presiding officer in the case of an overridden veto, delivering the act to the archivist of the United States . The archivist provides for its publication as a slip law and in the United States Statutes at Large after receiving the act. Thereafter, the changes are published in the United States Code . Through the process of judicial review , an act of Congress that violates
442-642: The law, limiting liabilities to those after January 1, 2018, was unconstitutional since it provides no proper compensation for the work that was taken from the publisher, against the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Act of Congress#Public law, private law, designation An act of Congress is a statute enacted by the United States Congress . Acts may apply only to individual entities (called private laws ), or to
468-493: The music industry united to join The Recording Academy's push for comprehensive music reform, including RIAA , NMPA , NSAI , and ASCAP . The three bills were consolidated in the House by Goodlatte on April 10, 2018, as H.R. 5447 , which passed the bill on April 25, 2018. Hatch introduced the combined bill in the Senate as S. 2823 on May 10, 2018. During the Senate's review, the body voted to move
494-520: The performing artists would not be paid as the use of songs on the radio was considered "promotional". The Fair Play Fair Pay Act had included language that would allow recording artists to receive performance royalties. However, these parts of the Fair Play Fair Pay Act were not included in the combined Music Modernization Act. The Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs, Service, and Important Contributions to Society (CLASSICS) Act
520-409: The public domain at an earlier time. Recordings prior to 1923 entered the public domain three years from passage, which equates to January 1, 2022 (see note). Recordings from 1923 to 1956 enter the public domain on January 1 the year after they turn 100 years old. For example, a work published on June 1, 1925, enters the public domain on January 1, 2026. Every January 1 following 2022, works will enter
546-411: The public domain, until the final date occurring on January 1, 2047, which concludes the entire corpus of works published between 1923 and 1946. Following a 10 year break, recordings from 1947 to 1956 will enter every year until the final date occurring on January 1, 2067. All recordings from 1957 to February 14, 1972, will be protected until February 15, 2067. The Allocation for Music Producers (AMP) Act
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#1732773270085572-496: The signing, he was not present, although had a luncheon with Trump later that day. The bills in both House and Senate had bipartisan support, as well as strong support from numerous music industry groups representing musicians, producers, and publishers, as well as from digital streaming media services and related industry groups. Digital streaming platforms Apple Music and Spotify had both come under prior separate legal actions for unpaid royalties for streaming music in part due to
598-430: The time limit expires, then the bill automatically becomes an act; however, if the Congress is adjourned at the end of this period, then the bill dies and cannot be reconsidered (see pocket veto ). If the president rejects a bill or resolution while the Congress is in session, a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress is needed for reconsideration to be successful. Promulgation in the sense of publishing and proclaiming
624-414: Was introduced by Rep. Joseph Crowley on February 6, 2017 as H.R. 881 . The bill designates that SoundExchange , the non-profit organization established by Congress to distribute royalties on sound recordings, will also distribute part of those royalties to "a producer, mixer, or sound engineer who was part of the creative process that created [the] sound recording". On April 1, 2014, Neil Portnow ,
650-610: Was originally introduced in the House as H.R. 3301 in July 2017. In US copyright law , sound recordings made prior to February 15, 1972, were not covered under federal copyright law, leaving them up to the individual states to pass laws for recording protection. This had created a complex series of laws that made it difficult for copyright enforcement and royalty payments. The CLASSICS Act established that sound recordings before 1972 are covered by copyright until February 15, 2067, with additional language to grandfather older recordings into
676-616: Was ultimately settled out of court by December 2018 for an undisclosed sum. The Internet Archive opposed an earlier version of the bill. After it passed, they used a provision allowing libraries to offer recordings that are not commercially available, to digitize and offer public downloads of some long-playing records that are not commercially available. In 2021, in response to the MMA, the Mechanical Licensing Collective began paying out unmatched mechanical royalties to songwriters and their publishers. One of
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