Songwriter Equity Act of 2014 (SEA) Continues to Pick Up Congressional Support

The music industry is continuing to evolve and it has become more of a challenge to earn a living.   Music licensing is an important revenue stream for many artists, unfortunately the music licensing system needs some modernizing so that there is a level playing field, to ensure that composers, songwriters, and publishers are appropriately compensated for the use of their intellectual property.

Composers and Songwriters earn royalty income through two separate rights which are:

1) The right to publicly  perform their musical works and

2) The right to make reproductions of those works and distribute those reproductions.

There are two outdated portions of the Copyright Act, Section 114(i) and Section 115, that prevent songwriters from receiving royalty rates that are fair market value  for the use of the intellectual property. America’s songwriters and music publishers are harmed by this inequity in the market.

The Songwriter Equity Act of  2014 (SEA)  is an important step toward modernizing the music licensing system, leveling the playing field, and fixing this inequity.

The SEA would:

• Adopt a fair rate standard for reproduction (mechanical) licenses. The objective would be to replace the current substandard rate currently used by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) to determine mechanical royalties with a rate that reflects free market conditions.
• Allow a “rate court” to consider other royalty rates as evidence when establishing digital performance rates. The objective would be to Amend Section 114(i) of the Copyright Act and allow a rate court to consider all relevant evidence when determining songwriter compensation, an ability that is currently prohibited by law.  The specifics of how the rate court will apply the evidence are left to the rate court’s discretion.

Congressman Doug Collins (9th District in Georgia) Introduced the Songwriter Equity Act Legislation to allow fair pay for songwriters. and has gained a lot of industry support from many organizations e.g. ASCAP, NMPA (National Music Publishers’ Association), BMI, The Recording Academy, and SESAC.

Congressman Diane Black (6th District of Tennessee) has signaled her support for H.R. 4079, the Songwriter Equity Act of 2014. It looks like co-sponsorship is coming across both party lines and diverse Congressional Committee members.

Click here for additional information on the Songwriter Equity Act