determination of the final rate becomes ef-
fective— 
‘‘(I) the digital music provider 
shall pay to the designated agent any 
amounts due from underpayment of 
fees by the digital music provider be-
cause the final rate exceeds the in-
terim rate; or 
‘‘(II) the designated agent shall 
refund to the digital music provider 
the amounts of any overpayment of 
fees by the digital music provider be-
cause the interim rate exceeds the 
final rate, or, at the election of the 
digital music provider, the designated 
agent shall credit such overpayment 
against future payments by the digital 
music provider to the designated 
agent under this subsection. 
‘‘(9) DESIGNATED AGENTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Designated agents 
under this subsection are the General Des-
ignated Agent and additional designated agents. 
‘‘(B) GENERAL DESIGNATED AGENT.— 
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‘‘(i) DESIGNATION
AND
PURPOSE.— 
(I) Not later than March 1, 2007, the Reg-
ister of Copyrights shall designate a me-
chanical licensing and collection agency 
representing music publishing entities that 
represent the greatest share of the music 
publishing market, as measured by the 
amount of royalties collected during the 
preceding 3 full calendar years with re-
spect to the use of copyrighted musical 
works pursuant to this section, to establish 
and operate the General Designated Agent. 
‘‘(II) The General Designated Agent 
shall grant and administer licenses and col-
lect and distribute royalties payable for the 
use of musical works licensed under this 
subsection, but only for copyright owners 
who do not choose to be represented by an 
additional designated agent, and to the ex-
tent provided in subparagraphs (E)(ii)(II) 
and (G)(ii). 
‘‘(III)(aa) The General Designated 
Agent shall be governed by a board of di-
rectors consisting of 5 members, 2 of 
whom shall be professional songwriters. 
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‘‘(bb) The mechanical licensing and 
collection agency described in subclause (I) 
shall select the representatives of music 
publishing entities that will serve on the 
board of directors of the General Des-
ignated Agent. 
‘‘(cc) The Register of Copyrights shall 
select the 2 songwriter directors, after con-
sulting with the songwriter community. 
Each of the 2 songwriter directors shall 
have— 
‘‘(AA) significant artistic experi-
ence in the songwriting profession, in-
cluding by deriving the major portion 
of his or her income from songwriter 
activities such as mechanical, per-
formance, and synchronization rights, 
whether online or terrestrial; and 
‘‘(BB) significant business expe-
rience in the songwriting profession so 
that he or she can fully understand 
and participate in the deliberations of 
the board of directors. 
The 2 songwriter directors shall serve stag-
gered 3-year terms. 
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