I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1836 

To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide fair treatment of radio 

stations and artists for the use of sound recordings, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 30, 2017 

Mr. NADLER (for himself, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. ISSA, Mr. 

DEUTCH, and Mr. THOMAS J. ROONEY of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide fair treatment of radio stations and artists for the use of sound 

recordings, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Fair Play Fair Pay Act of 2017’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Equitable treatment for terrestrial broadcasts and Internet services. 

Sec. 3. Timing of proceedings under sections 112(e) and 114(f). 

Sec. 4. Ensuring platform parity. 


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Sec. 5. Special protection for small broadcasters, public and educational radio, 

religious services, and incidental use of music. 

Sec. 6. Distribution of certain royalties. 

Sec. 7. Equitable treatment of legacy sound recordings. 

Sec. 8. No harmful effects on songwriters. 

Sec. 9. Allocation of payments to music producers. 

Sec. 10. Effective date. 

1 SEC. 2. EQUITABLE TREATMENT FOR TERRESTRIAL 

2 BROADCASTS AND INTERNET SERVICES. 

3 (a) PERFORMANCE RIGHT APPLICABLE TO TRANS4 MISSIONS GENERALLY.—Paragraph (6) of section 106 of 

5 title 17, United States Code, is amended to read as fol6 lows: 

7 ‘‘(6) in the case of sound recordings, to perform 

8 the copyrighted work publicly by means of an audio 

9 transmission.’’. 

10 (b) INCLUSION OF TERRESTRIAL BROADCASTS IN

11 EXISTING PERFORMANCE RIGHT AND STATUTORY LI12 CENSE.—Section 114(d)(1) of title 17, United States 

13 Code, is amended— 

14 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

15 by striking ‘‘a digital’’ and inserting ‘‘an’’; and 

16 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 

17 (A) by striking clauses (i) and (iii); 

18 (B) by redesignating clauses (ii) and (iv) 

19 as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively; 

20 (C) in clause (i), as so redesignated, by 

21 adding ‘‘or’’ after ‘‘retransmitter;’’; and 


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1 (D) in clause (ii), as so redesignated, by 

2 striking ‘‘retransmission, whether or not simul3 taneous, is a’’ and inserting ‘‘retransmission is 

4 a non-simultaneous,’’. 

5 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

6 (1) DEFINITION.—Section 101 of title 17, 

7 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

8 the definition of ‘‘architectural work’’ the following: 

9 ‘‘An ‘audio transmission’ is a transmission of a 

10 sound recording, whether in a digital, analog, or 

11 other format. This term does not include the trans12 mission of any audiovisual work.’’. 

13 (2) CONFORMING REMOVAL OF DIGITAL.—Title 

14 17, United States Code, is amended— 

15 (A) in section 112(e)(8), by striking ‘‘a 

16 digital audio transmission’’ and inserting ‘‘an 

17 audio transmission’’; and 

18 (B) in section 114— 

19 (i) in subsection (d)— 

20 (I) in paragraph (2)— 

21 (aa) in the matter preceding 

22 subparagraph (A), by striking 

23 ‘‘subscription digital’’ and insert24 ing ‘‘subscription’’; and 


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1 (bb) in subparagraph 

2 (C)(viii), by striking ‘‘digital sig3 nal’’ and inserting ‘‘signal’’; and 

4 (II) in paragraph (4)— 

5 (aa) in subparagraph (A), 

6 by striking ‘‘a digital audio 

7 transmission’’ and inserting ‘‘an 

8 audio transmission’’; and 

9 (bb) in subparagraph (B)(i), 

10 by striking ‘‘a digital audio 

11 transmission’’ and inserting ‘‘an 

12 audio transmission’’; 

13 (ii) in subsection (g)(2)(A), by strik14 ing ‘‘a digital’’ and inserting ‘‘an’’; and 

15 (iii) in subsection (j)— 

16 (I) in paragraph (6)— 

17 (aa) by striking ‘‘digital’’; 

18 and 

19 (bb) by striking ‘‘retrans20 missions of broadcast trans21 missions’’ and inserting ‘‘broad22 cast transmissions and retrans23 missions of broadcast trans24 missions’’; and 


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1 (II) in paragraph (8), by striking 

2 ‘‘subscription digital’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘subscription’’. 

4 SEC. 3. TIMING OF PROCEEDINGS UNDER SECTIONS 112(e) 

5 AND 114(f). 

6 Paragraph (3) of section 804(b) of title 17, United 

7 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing new subparagraph: 

9 ‘‘(D) A proceeding under this chapter shall 

10 be commenced as soon as practicable after the 

11 date of the enactment of the Fair Play Fair 

12 Pay Act of 2017 to determine royalty rates and 

13 terms for nonsubscription broadcast trans14 missions, to be effective for the period begin15 ning on such date of enactment, and ending on 

16 December 31, 2022. Any payment due under 

17 section 114(f)(1)(D) shall not be due until the 

18 due date of the first royalty payments for non19 subscription broadcast transmissions that are 

20 determined, after the date of the enactment of 

21 the Fair Play Fair Pay Act of 2017, by the 

22 Copyright Royalty Judges. Thereafter, such 

23 proceeding shall be repeated in each subsequent 

24 fifth calendar year.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. ENSURING PLATFORM PARITY. 

2 (a) UNIFORM RATE STANDARD.—Section 114(f) of 

3 title 17, United States Code, is amended— 

4 (1) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and in5 serting the following: 

6 ‘‘(1)(A) Proceedings under chapter 8 shall de7 termine reasonable rates and terms of royalty pay8 ments for transmissions subject to statutory licens9 ing under subsection (d)(2) during the 5-year period 

10 beginning on January 1 of the second year following 

11 the year in which the proceedings are to be com12 menced pursuant to subparagraph (A) or (B) of sec13 tion 804(b)(3), as the case may be, or such other pe14 riod as the parties may agree. The parties to each 

15 proceeding shall bear their own costs. 

16 ‘‘(B) The schedule of reasonable rates and 

17 terms determined by the Copyright Royalty Judges 

18 shall, subject to paragraph (2), be binding on all 

19 copyright owners of sound recordings and entities 

20 performing sound recordings affected by this para21 graph during the 5-year period specified in subpara22 graph (A), or such other period as the parties may 

23 agree. Such rates and terms shall distinguish among 

24 the different types of services then in operation and 

25 shall include a minimum fee for each such type of 

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1 cluding the quantity and nature of the use of sound 

2 recordings and the degree to which use of the service 

3 may substitute for or may promote the purchase of 

4 phonorecords by consumers. The Copyright Royalty 

5 Judges shall establish rates and terms that most 

6 clearly represent the rates and terms that would 

7 have been negotiated in the marketplace between a 

8 willing buyer and a willing seller. In determining 

9 such rates and terms, the Copyright Royalty 

10 Judges— 

11 ‘‘(i) shall base their decision on economic, 

12 competitive, and programming information pre13 sented by the parties, including— 

14 ‘‘(I) whether use of the service may 

15 substitute for or may promote the sales of 

16 phonorecords or otherwise may interfere 

17 with or may enhance the sound recording 

18 copyright owner’s other streams of revenue 

19 from the copyright owner’s sound record20 ings; and 

21 ‘‘(II) the relative roles of the copy22 right owner and the transmitting entity in 

23 the copyrighted work and the service made 

24 available to the public with respect to rel25 ative creative contribution, technological 


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1 contribution, capital investment, cost, and 

2 risk; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) may consider the rates and terms for 

4 comparable types of audio transmission services 

5 and comparable circumstances under voluntary 

6 license agreements. 

7 ‘‘(C) The procedures under subparagraphs (A) 

8 and (B) shall also be initiated pursuant to a petition 

9 filed by any copyright owner of sound recordings or 

10 any transmitting entity indicating that a new type of 

11 service on which sound recordings are performed is 

12 or is about to become operational, for the purpose 

13 of determining reasonable terms and rates of royalty 

14 payments with respect to such new type of service 

15 for the period beginning with the inception of such 

16 new type of service and ending on the date on which 

17 the royalty rates and terms for eligible nonsubscrip18 tion services and new subscription services, or pre19 existing services, as the case may be, most recently 

20 determined under subparagraph (A) or (B) and 

21 chapter 8 expire, or such other period as the parties 

22 may agree.’’; and 

23 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), and 

24 (5) as paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), respectively. 

25 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


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1 (1) SECTION 114.—Section 114(f) of title 17, 

2 United States Code, as amended by subsection (a), 

3 is further amended in paragraph (4)(C), as so redes4 ignated, by striking ‘‘under paragraph (4)’’ and in5 serting ‘‘under paragraph (3)’’. 

6 (2) SECTION 801.—Section 801(b)(1) of title 

7 17, United States Code, is amended by striking 

8 ‘‘114(f)(1)(B), 115,’’ and inserting ‘‘115’’. 

9 (3) SECTION 804.—Section 804(b)(3)(C) of title 

10 17, United States Code, is amended— 

11 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and 

12 114(f)(2)(C)’’; 

13 (B) in clause (iii)(II), by striking 

14 ‘‘114(f)(4)(B)(ii)’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘114(f)(3)(B)(ii)’’; and 

16 (C) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘or 

17 114(f)(2)(C), as the case may be’’. 

18 SEC. 5. SPECIAL PROTECTION FOR SMALL BROADCASTERS, 

19 PUBLIC AND EDUCATIONAL RADIO, RELI20 GIOUS SERVICES, AND INCIDENTAL USE OF 

21 MUSIC. 

22 (a) SPECIAL PROTECTION FOR SMALL BROAD23 CASTERS.—Section 114(f)(1) of title 17, United States 

24 Code, as amended by section 4(a), is further amended by 

25 inserting at the end the following new subparagraph: 


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1 ‘‘(D)(i) Notwithstanding the provisions of sub2 paragraphs (A) through (C), the royalty rate for 

3 nonsubscription broadcast transmissions by each in4 dividual terrestrial broadcast station licensed as such 

5 by the Federal Communications Commission that is 

6 not a public broadcasting entity as defined in section 

7 118(f) and that has revenues in any calendar year 

8 of less than $1,000,000 shall be $500 per year for 

9 any such year. For purposes of such determination, 

10 such revenues shall include all revenues from the op11 eration of the station, calculated in accordance with 

12 generally accepted accounting principles in the 

13 United States. In the case of affiliated broadcast 

14 stations, revenues shall be allocated reasonably to in15 dividual stations associated with those revenues.’’. 

16 (b) SPECIAL PROTECTION FOR PUBLIC BROAD17 CASTERS, COLLEGE RADIO, AND OTHER NONCOMMER18 CIAL STATIONS.—Subparagraph (D) of section 114(f)(1) 

19 of title 17, United States Code, as added by subsection 

20 (a), is amended by inserting at the end the following new 

21 clauses: 

22 ‘‘(ii) Notwithstanding the provisions of subpara23 graphs (A) through (C), the royalty rate for non24 subscription broadcast transmissions by each indi25 vidual terrestrial broadcast station licensed as such 


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1 by the Federal Communications Commission that is 

2 a public broadcasting entity as defined in section 

3 118(f) shall be $100 per year. 

4 ‘‘(iii) The royalty rates specified in clauses (i) 

5 and (ii) shall not be admissible as evidence or other6 wise taken into account in determining royalty rates 

7 in a proceeding under chapter 8, or in any other ad8 ministrative, judicial, or other Federal Government 

9 proceeding involving the setting or adjustment of the 

10 royalties payable for the public performance or re11 production in ephemeral phonorecords or copies of 

12 sound recordings, the determination of terms or con13 ditions related thereto, or the establishment of notice 

14 or recordkeeping requirements.’’. 

15 (c) NO ROYALTIES FOR RELIGIOUS SERVICES OR IN16 CIDENTAL USES OF MUSIC.—Section 114(d)(1) of title 

17 17, United States Code, as amended by section 2(b), is 

18 further amended by striking subparagraph (A) and insert19 ing the following: 

20 ‘‘(A) a nonsubscription broadcast trans21 mission of— 

22 ‘‘(i) services at a place of worship or 

23 other religious assembly; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) an incidental use of a sound re25 cording of a musical work;’’. 


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1 (d) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section 118(f) of 

2 title 17, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘sec3 tion 397 of title 47’’ and inserting ‘‘section 397 of the 

4 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 397)’’. 

5 SEC. 6. DISTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN ROYALTIES. 

6 Section 114(g) of title 17, United States Code, is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or in the 

9 case of a transmission to which paragraph (5) ap10 plies’’ after ‘‘this section’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

12 paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(5) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), to the ex14 tent that a license granted by the copyright owner 

15 of a sound recording to a transmitting entity eligible 

16 for a statutory license under subsection (d)(2) ex17 tends to such entity’s transmissions otherwise licens18 able under a statutory license in accordance with 

19 subsection (f), such entity shall pay to the agent 

20 designated to distribute statutory licensing receipts 

21 from the licensing of transmissions in accordance 

22 with subsection (f), 50 percent of the total royalties 

23 that such entity is required, pursuant to the applica24 ble license agreement, to pay for such transmissions 

25 otherwise licensable under a statutory license in acVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:47 Apr 05, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1836.IH H1836

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1 cordance with subsection (f). That agent shall dis2 tribute such payments in proportion to the distribu3 tions provided in subparagraphs (B) through (D) of 

4 paragraph (2), and such payments shall be the sole 

5 payments to which featured and nonfeatured artists 

6 are entitled by virtue of such transmissions under 

7 the direct license with such entity.’’. 

8 SEC. 7. EQUITABLE TREATMENT OF LEGACY SOUND RE9 CORDINGS. 

10 (a) PAYMENT FOR USE OF CERTAIN SOUND RE11 CORDINGS.—Section 114(f)(3) of title 17, United States 

12 Code, as so redesignated, is amended by adding at the end 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘(D)(i) Any person publicly performing sound 

15 recordings protected under this title by means of 

16 transmissions under a statutory license under this 

17 section, or making reproductions of such sound re18 cordings under section 112(e), shall make royalty 

19 payments for transmissions that person makes of 

20 sound recordings that were fixed before February 

21 15, 1972, and reproductions that person makes of 

22 those sound recordings under the circumstances de23 scribed in section 112(e)(1), in the same manner as 

24 such person does for sound recordings that are pro25 tected under this title. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) If a person fails to make royalty payments 

2 described in clause (i) for sound recordings fixed be3 fore February 15, 1972, there shall be available, in 

4 addition to any remedy that may be available under 

5 the laws of any State, a civil action in an appro6 priate United States district court for recovery lim7 ited to the payments described in clause (i), in addi8 tion to interest, costs, and attorneys’ fees. Any such 

9 recovery that is obtained shall be offset against any 

10 recovery for such violation that may be available 

11 under the laws of any State. 

12 ‘‘(iii) No action may be brought under the laws 

13 of any State against a transmitting entity alleging 

14 infringement of a right equivalent to the right grant15 ed in section 106(6) based on a public performance 

16 of a sound recording fixed before February 15, 

17 1972, or alleging infringement of a right equivalent 

18 to the right granted in section 106(1) based on a re19 production of such a sound recording, if— 

20 ‘‘(I) the performance would have been sub21 ject to statutory licensing under subsection 

22 (d)(2) if the sound recording had been first 

23 fixed on or after February 15, 1972; 

24 ‘‘(II) the reproduction would have been 

25 subject to statutory licensing under section 


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1 112(e)(1) if the sound recording had been first 

2 fixed on or after February 15, 1972; 

3 ‘‘(III) the transmitting entity has satisfied 

4 the requirements for statutory licensing under 

5 subparagraph (B) and section 112(e)(6); and 

6 ‘‘(IV) the applicable royalty was paid and 

7 accounted for under this subparagraph. 

8 ‘‘(iv) This subparagraph does not confer copy9 right protection under this title upon sound record10 ings that were fixed before February 15, 1972. Such 

11 sound recordings are subject to the protection avail12 able under the laws of the States, and except as pro13 vided in clause (iii), are not subject to any limitation 

14 of rights or remedies, or any defense, provided under 

15 this title. 

16 ‘‘(v) This subparagraph shall have no effect 

17 with respect to any public performance that is made 

18 of a sound recording, or reproduction that is made 

19 of a sound recording under the circumstances de20 scribed in section 112(e)(1), on or after February 

21 15, 2067.’’. 

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

23 this section shall apply to performances and reproductions 

24 of sound recordings occurring on or after the date of the 

25 enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 8. NO HARMFUL EFFECTS ON SONGWRITERS. 

2 (a) NO ADVERSE EFFECT ON LICENSE FEES FOR

3 UNDERLYING MUSICAL WORKS; NECESSITY FOR OTHER

4 LICENSES.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 114(i) of title 17, 

6 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(i) NO ADVERSE EFFECT ON LICENSE FEES FOR

8 UNDERLYING MUSICAL WORKS; NECESSITY FOR OTHER

9 LICENSES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) NO ADVERSE EFFECT ON LICENSE FEES

11 FOR UNDERLYING MUSICAL WORKS.—License fees 

12 payable for the public performance of sound record13 ings under section 106(6) shall not be cited, taken 

14 into account, or otherwise used in any administra15 tive, judicial, or other governmental forum or pro16 ceeding, or otherwise, to set or adjust the license 

17 fees payable to copyright owners of musical works or 

18 their representatives for the public performance of 

19 their works, for the purpose of reducing or adversely 

20 affecting such license fees. License fees payable to 

21 copyright owners for the public performance of their 

22 musical works shall not be reduced or adversely af23 fected in any respect as a result of the rights grant24 ed by section 106(6). 

25 ‘‘(2) NECESSITY FOR OTHER LICENSES.—Not26 withstanding the grant by an owner of copyright in 


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1 a sound recording of an exclusive or nonexclusive li2 cense of the right under section 106(6) to perform 

3 the work publicly, a licensee of that sound recording 

4 may not publicly perform such sound recording un5 less a license has been granted for the public per6 formance of any copyrighted musical work contained 

7 in the sound recording. Such license to publicly per8 form the copyrighted musical work may be granted 

9 either by a performing rights society representing 

10 the copyright owner or by the copyright owner.’’. 

11 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

12 114(d)(3)(C) of title 17, United States Code, is 

13 hereby repealed. 

14 (b) PUBLIC PERFORMANCE RIGHTS AND ROYAL15 TIES.—Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by 

16 this Act, shall adversely affect in any respect the public 

17 performance rights of or royalties payable to songwriters 

18 or copyright owners of musical works. 

19 (c) PRESERVATION OF ROYALTIES ON UNDERLYING

20 WORKS PUBLICLY PERFORMED BY TERRESTRIAL BROAD21 CAST STATIONS.—Section 114(f) of title 17, United States 

22 Code, as amended by section 4(a), is further amended by 

23 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of 

25 this section, under no circumstances shall the rates 


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1 established by the Copyright Royalty Judges for the 

2 public performance of sound recordings be cited, 

3 taken into account, or otherwise used in any admin4 istrative, judicial, or other governmental forum or 

5 proceeding, or otherwise, to reduce or adversely af6 fect the license fees payable to copyright owners of 

7 musical works or their representatives for the public 

8 performance of their works by terrestrial broadcast 

9 stations, and such license fees for the public per10 formance of musical works shall be independent of 

11 license fees paid for the public performance of sound 

12 recordings.’’. 

13 SEC. 9. ALLOCATION OF PAYMENTS TO MUSIC PRODUCERS. 

14 (a) LETTER OF DIRECTION.—Section 114(g) of title 

15 17, United States Code, as amended by section 6, is fur16 ther amended by adding at the end the following new para17 graph: 

18 ‘‘(6) LETTER OF DIRECTION.—A collective des19 ignated by the Copyright Royalty Judges to dis20 tribute receipts from the licensing of transmissions 

21 in accordance with subsection (f) shall adopt and 

22 reasonably implement a policy that provides, in cir23 cumstances determined by the collective to be appro24 priate, for acceptance of instructions from a payee 

25 identified in subparagraph (A) or (D) of paragraph 


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1 (2) to distribute a portion of the payments to which 

2 the payee otherwise would be entitled from the li3 censing of transmissions of a particular sound re4 cording to a producer, mixer, or sound engineer who 

5 was part of the creative process that created the 

6 sound recording (in this section, referred to as a ‘let7 ter of direction’). To the extent that the collective 

8 accepts a letter of direction, the person entitled to 

9 payment pursuant to such letter of direction shall, 

10 during the time such letter of direction is in effect 

11 and followed by the collective, be treated for all pur12 poses as the owner of the right to receive such pay13 ment. This paragraph shall not be interpreted to 

14 imply that a collective cannot accept or act upon 

15 payment instructions in other circumstances.’’. 

16 (b) ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS FOR RECORDINGS

17 FIXED BEFORE NOVEMBER 1, 1995.—Section 114(g) of 

18 title 17, United States Code, as amended by subsection 

19 (a), is further amended by adding at the end the following 

20 new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(7) SOUND RECORDINGS FIXED BEFORE NO22 VEMBER 1, 1995.— 

23 ‘‘(A) PAYMENT ABSENT LETTER OF DI24 RECTION.—A collective designated by the Copy25 right Royalty Judges to distribute receipts from 


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1 the licensing of transmissions in accordance 

2 with subsection (f) shall adopt and reasonably 

3 implement a policy that provides, in cir4 cumstances determined by the collective to be 

5 appropriate, for deduction of 2 percent of the 

6 receipts from the licensing of transmissions of 

7 a sound recording fixed before November 1, 

8 1995, from receipts otherwise payable to the re9 cording artist or artists featured on such sound 

10 recording (or the persons conveying rights in 

11 the artists’ performance in the sound record12 ings) pursuant to paragraph (2)(D) (which 

13 leaves the recording artist or artists featured on 

14 such sound recording (or the persons conveying 

15 rights in the artists’ performance in the sound 

16 recordings) 43 percent of the total receipts paid 

17 pursuant to paragraph (2)) and distribution of 

18 such amount to one or more persons described 

19 in subparagraph (B), after deduction of costs as 

20 described in paragraph (3) or (4), as applicable, 

21 if each of the following requirements is met: 

22 ‘‘(i) CERTIFICATION OF ATTEMPT TO

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1 tified to the collective, under penalty of 

2 perjury, that— 

3 ‘‘(I) for a period of at least 4 

4 months, that person made reasonable 

5 efforts to contact the artist payee for 

6 such sound recording to request and 

7 obtain a letter of direction instructing 

8 the collective to pay a portion of the 

9 royalties from the featured recording 

10 artist or artists to that person; and 

11 ‘‘(II) during the period beginning 

12 on the date that person began the rea13 sonable efforts described in subclause 

14 (I) and ending on date of that per15 son’s certification to the collective, the 

16 artist payee did not definitively affirm 

17 or deny the request for a letter of di18 rection. 

19 ‘‘(ii) COLLECTIVE ATTEMPT TO CON20 TACT ARTIST.—After receipt of the certifi21 cation described in clause (i) and for a pe22 riod of at least 4 months before the collec23 tive’s first distribution to the person de24 scribed in subparagraph (B), the collective 

25 attempted to notify the artist payee of the 


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1 certification made by the person described 

2 in subparagraph (B) in a manner reason3 ably determined by the collective. 

4 ‘‘(iii) NO OBJECTION RECEIVED.—An 

5 objection to the distribution has not been 

6 submitted to the collective by the artist 

7 payee as of the date that is 10 business 

8 days before the date on which the first dis9 tribution is made. 

10 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENT.—A per11 son shall be eligible for payment under subpara12 graph (A) if such person— 

13 ‘‘(i) is a producer, mixer, or sound en14 gineer of the relevant sound recording; 

15 ‘‘(ii) has entered into a written con16 tract with a record company involved in 

17 the creation or lawful exploitation of the 

18 relevant sound recording, or with the re19 cording artist or artists featured on such 

20 sound recording (or the persons conveying 

21 rights in the artists performance in the 

22 sound recordings), pursuant to which such 

23 person is entitled to participate in royalty 

24 payments based on exploitation of the rel25 evant sound recording that are payable 


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1 from royalties otherwise payable to the re2 cording artist or artists featured on such 

3 sound recording (or the persons conveying 

4 rights in the artists performance in the 

5 sound recordings); 

6 ‘‘(iii) made a contribution, of a nature 

7 subject to copyright protection under sec8 tion 102, to the creation of the relevant 

9 sound recording; and 

10 ‘‘(iv) submits a written certification to 

11 the collective stating, under penalty of per12 jury, that such person meets the require13 ments in clauses (i) through (iii) and in14 cludes a true copy of the contract de15 scribed in clause (ii). 

16 ‘‘(C) MULTIPLE CERTIFICATIONS.—Sub17 ject to subparagraph (D), in a case in which 

18 more than one person described in subpara19 graph (B) has met the requirements for a dis20 tribution pursuant to subparagraph (A) with re21 spect to a sound recording as of the date that 

22 is 10 business days before the date on which a 

23 distribution is made, the collective shall divide 

24 the 2 percent distribution equally among all 

25 such persons. 


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1 ‘‘(D) OBJECTION TO PAYMENT.—Not later 

2 than 10 days after the collective receives from 

3 the artist payee a written objection to a dis4 tribution made pursuant to subparagraph (A), 

5 the collective shall cease making any further 

6 payment related to such distribution. In any 

7 case in which the collective has made one or 

8 more distributions pursuant to subparagraph 

9 (A) to a person described in subparagraph (B) 

10 before the date that is 10 business days after 

11 the date on which the collective receives an ob12 jection by the artist payee to such distribution, 

13 the objection shall not affect that person’s enti14 tlement to any distribution made before the col15 lective ceases such distribution pursuant to this 

16 subparagraph. 

17 ‘‘(E) OWNERSHIP OF THE RIGHT TO RE18 CEIVE PAYMENTS.—To the extent that the col19 lective determines that a distribution will be 

20 made pursuant to subparagraph (A) to a person 

21 described in subparagraph (B), such person 

22 shall during the period of such distribution be 

23 treated for all purposes as the owner of the 

24 right to receive such payments. 


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1 ‘‘(F) ARTIST PAYEE DEFINED.—In this 

2 paragraph, the term ‘artist payee’ means a per3 son, other than a person described in subpara4 graph (B), who owns the right to receive all or 

5 part of the receipts payable under paragraph 

6 (2)(D) with respect to a sound recording. In a 

7 case in which there are multiple artist payees 

8 with respect to a sound recording, an objection 

9 by one such payee shall apply only to that pay10 ee’s share of the receipts payable under para11 graph (2)(D), and does not preclude payment 

12 under subparagraph (A) from the share of an 

13 artist payee that does not object.’’. 

14 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

15 Section 114(g) of title 17, United States Code, as amend16 ed by subsections (a) and (b), is further amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘An agent 

18 designated’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided for in 

19 paragraph (7), a collective designated by the Copy20 right Royalty Judges’’; 

21 (2) in paragraph (3)— 

22 (A) by striking ‘‘agent designated’’ and in23 serting ‘‘collective designated by the Copyright 

24 Royalty Judges’’; and 


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1 (B) by striking ‘‘agent’’ and inserting ‘‘col2 lective’’, each place it appears; and 

3 (3) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘agent’’ and 

4 inserting ‘‘collective’’, each place it appears. 

5 SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

6 This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 

7 shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act, and 

8 except as provided in the amendment made by section 3, 

9 shall apply to any proceeding that is pending on, or com10 menced on or after, such effective date. 

Æ 


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