Collins, Hatch Reintroduce Songwriter Equity Act; NMPA Applauds
The Songwriter Equity Act was reintroduced Wednesday by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., the National Music Publishers’ Association said in a news release. “The legislation modernizes sections 114 and 115 of the Copyright Act to achieve…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
fairer royalty rates for songwriters,” it said. SEA is expected to be one of the key music licensing issues on Capitol Hill this term and could be influenced by the outcome of the Department of Justice’s ongoing consent decree review, lawmakers and music attorneys have told us (see 1412050057). Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Bob Corker, R-Tenn., joined Hatch as co-sponsors, said NMPA. Nine House members, including Reps. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., are co-sponsoring the House legislation, it said. “If songwriters’ royalties must be regulated, they should at least be based on fair market value,” said NMPA CEO David Israelite, citing the same recommendation made in the Copyright Office’s recent music licensing study (see 1502050055).