he Senate cleared a bill late Tuesday that creates a new independent entity that will license songs to companies that play music online. The nonprofit collective will then pay songwriters, including those who wrote pre-1970s classics before music copyrights protected their work.
In the latest sign that music copyright reform could be on the horizon, a Senate version of the Music Modernization Act is expected to be filed on Wednesday. The Senate bill follows the House version filed in December. The legislation aims to improve digital royalty payouts to songwriters and publishers, while also greatly reducing the legal liability that streaming companies like Spotify and Apple Music have faced to license songs for use on their services. The NAB opposes some of its provisions.
