Allocation for Music Producers Act

Summary: Allocation for Music Producers Act or the AMP Act This bill amends federal copyright law to require a collective designated by the Copyright Royalty Judges to implement a policy providing for the acceptance of instructions (referred to as a "letter of direction") from a person who owns the exclusive right to publicly perform a sound recording by means of a digital audio transmission, or from a recording artist of a such a sound recording, to distribute a portion of royalty payments to a producer, mixer, or sound engineer who was part of the creative process behind the sound recording. The collective must adopt special procedures for a producer, mixer, or sound engineer to receive a portion of royalties for recordings fixed before November 1, 1995, by certifying that a reasonable effort has been made to obtain a letter of direction from an artist who owns the right to receipts payable with respect to the sound recording.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Allocation for Music Producers Act'' 
or the ``AMP Act''.

SEC. 2. PAYMENT OF STATUTORY PERFORMANCE ROYALTIES.

    (a) Letter of Direction.--Section 114(g) of title 17, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(5) Letter of direction.--A collective designated by the 
        Copyright Royalty Judges to distribute receipts from the 
        licensing of transmissions in accordance with subsection (f) 
        shall adopt and reasonably implement a policy that provides, in 
        circumstances determined by the collective to be appropriate, 
        for acceptance of instructions from a payee identified in 
        subparagraph (A) or (D) of paragraph (2) to distribute a 
        portion of the payments to which the payee otherwise would be 
        entitled from the licensing of transmissions of a particular 
        sound recording to a producer, mixer, or sound engineer who was 
        part of the creative process that created the sound recording 
        (in this section, referred to as a `letter of direction'). To 
        the extent that the collective accepts a letter of direction, 
        the person entitled to payment pursuant to such letter of 
        direction shall, during the time such letter of direction is in 
        effect and followed by the collective, be treated for all 
        purposes as the owner of the right to receive such payment. 
        This paragraph shall not be interpreted to imply that a 
        collective cannot accept or act upon payment instructions in 
        other circumstances.''.
    (b) Additional Provisions for Recordings Fixed Before November 1, 
1995.--Section 114(g) of title 17, United States Code, as amended by 
subsection (a), is further amended by adding at the end the following 
new paragraph:
            ``(6) Sound recordings fixed before november 1, 1995.--
                    ``(A) Payment absent letter of direction.--A 
                collective designated by the Copyright Royalty Judges 
                to distribute receipts from the licensing of 
                transmissions in accordance with subsection (f) shall 
                adopt and reasonably implement a policy that provides, 
                in circumstances determined by the collective to be 
                appropriate, for deduction of 2 percent of the receipts 
                from the licensing of transmissions of a sound 
                recording fixed before November 1, 1995, from receipts 
                otherwise payable to the recording artist or artists 
                featured on such sound recording (or the persons 
                conveying rights in the artists' performance in the 
                sound recordings) pursuant to paragraph (2)(D) (which 
                leaves the recording artist or artists featured on such 
                sound recording (or the persons conveying rights in the 
                artists' performance in the sound recordings) 43 
                percent of the total receipts paid pursuant to 
                paragraph (2)) and distribution of such amount to one 
                or more persons described in subparagraph (B), after 
                deduction of costs as described in paragraph (3) or 
                (4), as applicable, if each of the following 
                requirements is met:
                            ``(i) Certification of attempt to obtain a 
                        letter of direction.--A person described in 
                        subparagraph (B) certified to the collective, 
                        under penalty of perjury, that--
                                    ``(I) for a period of at least 4 
                                months, that person made reasonable 
                                efforts to contact the artist payee for 
                                such sound recording to request and 
                                obtain a letter of direction 
                                instructing the collective to pay a 
                                portion of the royalties from the 
                                featured recording artist or artists to 
                                that person; and
                                    ``(II) during the period beginning 
                                on the date that person began the 
                                reasonable efforts described in 
                                subclause (I) and ending on date of 
                                that person's certification to the 
                                collective, the artist payee did not 
                                definitively affirm or deny the request 
                                for a letter of direction.
                            ``(ii) Collective attempt to contact 
                        artist.--After receipt of the certification 
                        described in clause (i) and for a period of at 
                        least 4 months before the collective's first 
                        distribution to the person described in 
                        subparagraph (B), the collective attempted to 
                        notify the artist payee of the certification 
                        made by the person described in subparagraph 
                        (B) in a manner reasonably determined by the 
                        collective.
                            ``(iii) No objection received.--An 
                        objection to the distribution has not been 
                        submitted to the collective by the artist payee 
                        as of the date that is 10 business days before 
                        the date on which the first distribution is 
                        made.
                    ``(B) Eligibility for payment.--A person shall be 
                eligible for payment under subparagraph (A) if such 
                person--
                            ``(i) is a producer, mixer, or sound 
                        engineer of the relevant sound recording;
                            ``(ii) has entered into a written contract 
                        with a record company involved in the creation 
                        or lawful exploitation of the relevant sound 
                        recording, or with the recording artist or 
                        artists featured on such sound recording (or 
                        the persons conveying rights in the artists' 
                        performance in the sound recordings), pursuant 
                        to which such person is entitled to participate 
                        in royalty payments based on exploitation of 
                        the relevant sound recording that are payable 
                        from royalties otherwise payable to the 
                        recording artist or artists featured on such 
                        sound recording (or the persons conveying 
                        rights in the artists' performance in the sound 
                        recordings);
                            ``(iii) made a contribution, of a nature 
                        subject to copyright protection under section 
                        102, to the creation of the relevant sound 
                        recording; and
                            ``(iv) submits a written certification to 
                        the collective stating, under penalty of 
                        perjury, that such person meets the 
                        requirements in clauses (i) through (iii) and 
                        includes a true copy of the contract described 
                        in clause (ii).
                    ``(C) Multiple certifications.--Subject to 
                subparagraph (D), in a case in which more than one 
                person described in subparagraph (B) has met the 
                requirements for a distribution pursuant to 
                subparagraph (A) with respect to a sound recording as 
                of the date that is 10 business days before the date on 
                which a distribution is made, the collective shall 
                divide the 2 percent distribution equally among all 
                such persons.
                    ``(D) Objection to payment.--Not later than 10 days 
                after the collective receives from the artist payee a 
                written objection to a distribution made pursuant to 
                subparagraph (A), the collective shall cease making any 
                further payment related to such distribution. In any 
                case in which the collective has made one or more 
                distributions pursuant to subparagraph (A) to a person 
                described in subparagraph (B) before the date that is 
                10 business days after the date on which the collective 
                receives an objection by the artist payee to such 
                distribution, the objection shall not affect that 
                person's entitlement to any distribution made before 
                the collective ceases such distribution pursuant to 
                this subparagraph.
                    ``(E) Ownership of the right to receive payments.--
                To the extent that the collective determines that a 
                distribution will be made pursuant to subparagraph (A) 
                to a person described in subparagraph (B), such person 
                shall during the period of such distribution be treated 
                for all purposes as the owner of the right to receive 
                such payments.
                    ``(F) Artist payee defined.--In this paragraph, the 
                term `artist payee' means a person, other than a person 
                described in subparagraph (B), who owns the right to 
                receive all or part of the receipts payable under 
                paragraph (2)(D) with respect to a sound recording. In 
                a case in which there are multiple artist payees with 
                respect to a sound recording, an objection by one such 
                payee shall apply only to that payee's share of the 
                receipts payable under paragraph (2)(D), and does not 
                preclude payment under subparagraph (A) from the share 
                of an artist payee that does not object.''.
    (c) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--Section 114(g) of title 
17, United States Code, as amended by subsections (a) and (b), is 
further amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``An agent designated'' 
        and inserting ``Except as provided for in paragraph (6), a 
        collective designated by the Copyright Royalty Judges'';
            (2) in paragraph (3)--
                    (A) by striking ``agent designated'' and inserting 
                ``collective designated by the Copyright Royalty 
                Judges''; and
                    (B) by striking ``agent'' and inserting 
                ``collective'', each place it appears; and
            (3) in paragraph (4), by striking ``agent'' and inserting 
        ``collective'', each place it appears.