Improving the Compulsory License Process - Pay the Musicians
Remarks made by the Register of Copyrights, Marybeth Peters, before the House Judiciary Committee a couple of weeks ago are now posted at the Copyright Office site.
Peters identifies four issues that Congress needs to tackle: 1) Scope of the license [under section 115] and clarification of rights; 2) Collection and distribution of royalty fees; 3) Efficiency of the licensing process; and 4) Rate setting procedures.
The remarks are a thoughtful review of the system and its history. Although not everyone will agree with her suggestions for improving the system, everyone involved with making and licensing music seems to agree that the system is not currently working very well. We can see that reflected in the number of lawsuits being filed and in the confusion expressed by smaller operators - and let’s not forget that ti is reflected in the still low pay received by most musicians for their work. In a world where everything we do is set to a soundtrack, it is deplorable that so many of the musicians who provide this soundtrack simply cannot make enough money from their music to provide even a meager living for themselves. We can and should do better.
Leave a Reply