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(D) of section 114(g)(2), and paragraphs (5) and 
(6) of section 114(g)), distribute the royalties re-
ceived under paragraph (2) under the license de-
scribed in paragraph (2). Such payments shall be 
the only payments to which featured and nonfea-
tured artists are entitled by virtue of the trans-
missions described in paragraph (2) under the li-
cense. 
‘‘(4) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—This section 
does not prohibit any other license from directing 
the licensee to pay other royalties due to featured 
and nonfeatured artists for such transmissions to 
the collective designated to distribute receipts from 
the licensing of transmissions in accordance with 
section 114(f). 
‘‘(d) RELATIONSHIP TO STATE LAW.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Nothing in this section 
shall be construed to annul or limit any rights or 
remedies under the common law or statutes of any 
State for sound recordings fixed before February 15, 
1972, except, notwithstanding section 301(c), for the 
following: 
‘‘(A) This section preempts any claim of 
common law copyright or equivalent right under 
the laws of any State arising from any digital 
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audio transmission that is made, on and after 
the date of the enactment of this section, of a 
sound recording fixed on or after January 1, 
1923, and before February 15, 1972. 
‘‘(B) This section preempts any claim of 
common law copyright or equivalent right under 
the laws of any State arising from any repro-
duction that is made, on and after the date of 
the enactment of this section, of a sound re-
cording fixed on or after January 1, 1923, and 
before February 15, 1972, and that would sat-
isfy the requirements for statutory licensing 
under paragraphs (1) and (6) of section 112(e), 
if the sound recording were fixed on or after 
February 15, 1972. 
‘‘(C) This section preempts any claim of 
common law copyright or equivalent right under 
the laws of any State arising from any digital 
audio transmission or reproduction that is 
made, before the date of the enactment of this 
section, of a sound recording fixed on or after 
January 1, 1923, and before February 15, 
1972, if— 
‘‘(i) the digital audio transmission 
would have satisfied the requirements for 
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statutory licensing under section 114(d)(2) 
or been exempt under section 114(d)(1), or 
the reproduction would have satisfied the 
requirements of section 112(e)(1), as the 
case may be, if the sound recording were 
fixed on or after February 15, 1972; and 
‘‘(ii) except in the case of trans-
missions that would have been exempt 
under section 114(d)(1), the transmitting 
entity, before the end of the 270-day pe-
riod beginning on the date of the enact-
ment of this section, pays statutory royal-
ties and provides notice of the use of the 
relevant sound recordings in the same 
manner as is required by regulations 
adopted by the Copyright Royalty Judges 
for sound recordings that are protected 
under this title for all the digital audio 
transmissions and reproductions satisfying 
the requirements for statutory licensing 
under 
section 
114(d)(2) 
and 
section 
112(e)(1) during the 3 years prior to the 
date of the enactment of this section. 
‘‘(2) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION
FOR
COMMON 
LAW COPYRIGHT.—For purposes of subparagraphs 
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(A) through (C) of paragraph (1), a claim of com-
mon law copyright or equivalent right under the 
laws of any State includes a claim that characterizes 
conduct subject to such subparagraphs as an unlaw-
ful distribution, act of record piracy, or similar viola-
tion. 
‘‘(3) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION
FOR
PUBLIC 
PERFORMANCE
RIGHTS.—Nothing in this section 
shall be construed to recognize or negate the exist-
ence of public performance rights in sound record-
ings under the laws of any State. 
‘‘(e) LIMITATIONS ON REMEDIES.— 
‘‘(1) FAIR USE; USES BY LIBRARIES, ARCHIVES, 
AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.—The limitations 
on the exclusive rights of a copyright owner de-
scribed in sections 107, 108, and 110(1) and (2) 
shall apply to a claim under subsection (a) for the 
unauthorized performance of a sound recording fixed 
on or after January 1, 1923, and before February 
15, 1972. 
‘‘(2) ACTIONS.—The limitations on actions de-
scribed in section 507 shall apply to a claim under 
subsection (a) for the unauthorized performance of 
a sound recording fixed on or after January 1, 1923, 
and before February 15, 1972. 
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‘‘(3) MATERIAL
ONLINE.—Section 512 shall 
apply to a claim under subsection (a) for the unau-
thorized performance of a sound recording fixed on 
or after January 1, 1923, and before February 15, 
1972. 
‘‘(4) PRINCIPLES OF EQUITY.—Principles of eq-
uity apply to remedies for a violation of this section 
to the same extent as such principles apply to rem-
edies for infringement of copyright. 
‘‘(5) FILING
REQUIREMENT
FOR
STATUTORY 
DAMAGES AND ATTORNEYS’ FEES.— 
‘‘(A) FILING OF INFORMATION ON SOUND 
RECORDINGS.— 
‘‘(i) FILING
REQUIREMENT.—Except 
in the case of a transmitting entity that 
has filed contact information for that 
transmitting entity under subparagraph 
(B), in any action under this section, an 
award of statutory damages or of attor-
neys’ fees under section 504 or 505 may 
be made with respect to an unauthorized 
transmission of a sound recording under 
subsection (a) only if— 
‘‘(I) the rights owner has filed 
with the Copyright Office a schedule 
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that specifies the title, artist, and 
rights owner of the sound recording 
and contains such other information, 
as practicable, as the Register of 
Copyrights prescribes by regulation; 
and 
‘‘(II) the transmission is made 
after the end of the 90-day period be-
ginning on the date on which the in-
formation filed under subclause (I) is 
indexed into the public records of the 
Copyright Office. 
‘‘(ii) REGULATIONS.—The Register of 
Copyrights shall, before the end of the 
180-day period beginning on the date of 
the enactment of this section, issue regula-
tions establishing the form, content, and 
procedures for the filing of schedules under 
clause (i). Such regulations shall provide 
that persons may request that they receive 
timely notification of such filings, and shall 
set forth the manner in which such re-
quests may be made. 
‘‘(B) FILING
OF
CONTACT
INFORMATION 
FOR TRANSMITTING ENTITIES.— 
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‘‘(i) 
FILING
REQUIREMENT.—The 
Register of Copyrights shall, before the 
end of the 30-day period beginning on the 
date of the enactment of this section, issue 
regulations establishing the form, content, 
and procedures for the filing, by any entity 
that, as of the date of the enactment of 
this section, performs sound recordings 
fixed before February 15, 1972, by means 
of digital audio transmissions, of contact 
information for such entity. 
‘‘(ii) TIME LIMIT ON FILINGS.—The 
Register of Copyrights may accept filings 
under clause (i) only until the 180th day 
after the date of the enactment of this sec-
tion. 
‘‘(iii) LIMITATION
ON
STATUTORY 
DAMAGES AND ATTORNEYS’ FEES.— 
‘‘(I) LIMITATION.—An award of 
statutory damages or of attorneys’ 
fees under section 504 or 505 may 
not be made, against an entity that 
has filed contact information for that 
entity under clause (i), with respect to 
an unauthorized transmission by that 
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entity of a sound recording under sub-
section (a) if the transmission is made 
before the end of the 90-day period 
beginning on the date on which the 
entity receives a notice that— 
‘‘(aa) is sent by or on behalf 
of the rights owner of the sound 
recording; 
‘‘(bb) states that the entity 
is not legally authorized to trans-
mit that sound recording under 
subsection (a); and 
‘‘(cc) identifies the sound re-
cording in a schedule conforming 
to the requirements prescribed by 
the regulations issued under sub-
paragraph (A)(ii). 
‘‘(II) 
UNDELIVERABLE
NO-
TICES.—In any case in which a notice 
under subclause (I) is sent to an enti-
ty by mail or courier service and the 
notice is returned to the sender be-
cause the entity either is no longer lo-
cated at the address provided in the 
contact information filed under clause 
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(i) or has refused to accept delivery, 
or the notice is sent by electronic mail 
and is undeliverable, the 90-day pe-
riod under subclause (I) shall begin 
on the date of the attempted delivery. 
‘‘(C) SECTION 412.—Section 412 shall not 
limit an award of statutory damages under sec-
tion 504(c) or attorneys’ fees under section 505 
with respect to an unauthorized transmission of 
a sound recording under subsection (a). 
‘‘(6) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER PROVISIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
graph (B), no provision of this title shall apply 
to or limit the remedies available under this 
section except as otherwise provided in this sec-
tion. 
‘‘(B) APPLICABILITY
OF
DEFINITIONS.— 
Any term used in this section that is defined in 
section 101 shall have the meaning given that 
term in section 101. 
‘‘(f) APPLICATION
OF SECTION 230 SAFE HAR-
BOR.—For purposes of section 230 of the Communica-
tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230), subsection (a) shall 
be considered to be a ‘law pertaining to intellectual prop-
erty’ under subsection (e)(2) of such section. 
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‘‘(g) RIGHTS OWNER DEFINED.—In this section, the 
term ‘rights owner’ means the person who has the exclu-
sive right to reproduce a sound recording under the laws 
of any State.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of chap-
ters for title 17, United States Code, is amended by add-
ing at the end the following new chapter: 
‘‘14. Unauthorized digital performance of pre-1972 sound recordings ... 1401’’. 
SEC. 203. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This title and the amendments made by this title 
shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act. 
TITLE III—ALLOCATION FOR 
MUSIC PRODUCERS 
SEC. 301. SHORT TITLE. 
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Allocation for Music 
Producers Act’’ or the ‘‘AMP Act’’. 
SEC. 302. PAYMENT OF STATUTORY PERFORMANCE ROYAL-
TIES. 
(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) IN GENERAL.—A nonprofit collective 
designated by the Copyright Royalty Judges to 
distribute receipts from the licensing of trans-
missions in accordance with subsection (f) shall 
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adopt and reasonably implement a policy that 
provides, in circumstances determined by the 
collective to be appropriate, for acceptance of 
instructions from an artist payee identified 
under subparagraph (A) or (D) of paragraph 
(2) to distribute, to a producer, mixer, or sound 
engineer who was part of the creative process 
that created a sound recording, a portion of the 
payments to which the artist payee would other-
wise be entitled from the licensing of trans-
missions of the sound recording. In this section, 
such instructions shall be referred to as a ‘letter 
of direction’. 
‘‘(B) ACCEPTANCE
OF
LETTER.—To the 
extent that the collective accepts a letter of di-
rection under subparagraph (A), the person en-
titled to payment pursuant to the letter of di-
rection shall, during the period in which the let-
ter of direction is in effect and carried out by 
the collective, be treated for all purposes as the 
owner of the right to receive such payment, and 
the artist payee providing the letter of direction 
to the collective shall be treated as having no 
interest in such payment. 
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‘‘(C) AUTHORITY
OF
COLLECTIVE.—This 
paragraph shall not be construed in such a 
manner so that the collective is not authorized 
to accept or act upon payment instructions in 
circumstances other than those to which this 
paragraph applies.’’. 
(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 NO-
VEMBER 1, 1995.— 
‘‘(A) PAYMENT
ABSENT
LETTER
OF
DI-
RECTION.—A nonprofit collective designated by 
the Copyright Royalty Judges to distribute re-
ceipts from the licensing of transmissions in ac-
cordance with subsection (f) (in this paragraph 
referred to as the ‘collective’) shall adopt and 
reasonably implement a policy that provides, in 
circumstances determined by the collective to be 
appropriate, for the deduction of 2 percent of 
all the receipts that are collected from the li-
censing of transmissions of a sound recording 
fixed before November 1, 1995, but which is 
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withdrawn from the amount otherwise payable 
under paragraph (2)(D) to the recording artist 
or artists featured on the sound recording (or 
the persons conveying rights in the artists’ per-
formance in the sound recording), and the dis-
tribution of such amount to one or more per-
sons described in subparagraph (B), after de-
duction of costs described in paragraph (3) or 
(4), as applicable, if each of the following re-
quirements is met: 
‘‘(i) CERTIFICATION OF ATTEMPT TO 
OBTAIN
A
LETTER
OF
DIRECTION.—The 
person described in subparagraph (B) who 
is to receive the distribution has 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 to that person a 
portion of the royalties payable to the 
featured recording artist or artists; 
and 
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‘‘(II) during the period beginning 
on the date that person began the rea-
sonable efforts described in subclause 
(I) and ending on the date of that 
person’s certification to the collective, 
the artist payee did not affirm or 
deny in writing the request for a let-
ter of direction. 
‘‘(ii) COLLECTIVE ATTEMPT TO CON-
TACT ARTIST.—After receipt of the certifi-
cation described in clause (i) and for a pe-
riod of at least 4 months before the collec-
tive’s first distribution to the person de-
scribed in subparagraph (B), the collective 
attempted, in a reasonable manner as de-
termined by the collective, to notify the 
artist payee of the certification made by 
the person described in subparagraph (B). 
‘‘(iii) NO OBJECTION RECEIVED.—The 
artist payee did not, as of the date that is 
10 business days before the date on which 
the first distribution is made, submit to 
the collective in writing an objection to the 
distribution. 
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‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENT.—A per-
son shall be eligible for payment under subpara-
graph (A) if the person— 
‘‘(i) is a producer, mixer, or sound en-
gineer of the sound recording; 
‘‘(ii) has entered into a written con-
tract with a record company involved in 
the creation or lawful exploitation of the 
sound recording, or with the recording art-
ist or artists featured on the sound record-
ing (or the persons conveying rights in the 
artists’ performance in the sound record-
ing), under which the person seeking pay-
ment is entitled to participate in royalty 
payments that are based on the exploi-
tation of the sound recording and are pay-
able from royalties otherwise payable to 
the recording artist or artists featured on 
the sound recording (or the persons con-
veying rights in the artists’ performance in 
the sound recording); 
‘‘(iii) made a creative contribution to 
the creation of the sound recording; and 
‘‘(iv) submits a written certification to 
the collective stating, under penalty of per-
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jury, that the person meets the require-
ments in clauses (i) through (iii) and in-
cludes a true copy of the contract de-
scribed in clause (ii). 
‘‘(C) MULTIPLE
CERTIFICATIONS.—Sub-
ject to subparagraph (D), in a case in which 
more than one person described in subpara-
graph (B) has met the requirements for a dis-
tribution under subparagraph (A) with respect 
to a sound recording as of the date that is 10 
business days before the date on which a dis-
tribution is made, the collective shall divide the 
2 percent distribution equally among all such 
persons. 
‘‘(D) OBJECTION TO PAYMENT.—Not later 
than 10 business days after the date on which 
the collective receives from the artist payee a 
written objection to a distribution made pursu-
ant to subparagraph (A), the collective shall 
cease making any further payment relating to 
such distribution. In any case in which the col-
lective has made one or more distributions pur-
suant to subparagraph (A) to a person de-
scribed in subparagraph (B) before the date 
that is 10 business days after the date on which 
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the collective receives from the artist payee an 
objection to such distribution, the objection 
shall not affect that person’s entitlement to any 
distribution made before the collective ceases 
such distribution under this subparagraph. 
‘‘(E) OWNERSHIP OF THE RIGHT TO RE-
CEIVE PAYMENTS.—To the extent that the col-
lective determines that a distribution will be 
made under subparagraph (A) to a person de-
scribed in subparagraph (B), such person shall, 
during the period covered by such distribution, 
be treated for all purposes as the owner of the 
right to receive such payments, and the artist 
payee to whom such payments would otherwise 
be payable shall be treated as having no inter-
est in such payments. 
‘‘(F) ARTIST
PAYEE
DEFINED.—In this 
paragraph, the term ‘artist payee’ means a per-
son, other than a person described in subpara-
graph (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 pay-
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ee’s share of the receipts payable under para-
graph (2)(D), and does not preclude payment 
under subparagraph (A) from the share of an 
artist payee that does not so object.’’. 
(c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
Section 114(g) of title 17, United States Code, as amend-
ed 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 nonprofit collective designated by 
the Copyright Royalty Judges’’; 
(2) in paragraph (3)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘nonprofit agent des-
ignated’’ and inserting ‘‘nonprofit collective des-
ignated by the Copyright Royalty Judges’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘another designated agent’’ 
and inserting ‘‘another designated nonprofit col-
lective’’; and 
(C) by striking ‘‘agent’’ and inserting ‘‘col-
lective’’ each subsequent place it appears; 
(3) in paragraph (4)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘designated agent’’ and in-
serting ‘‘nonprofit collective’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘agent’’ and inserting ‘‘col-
lective’’ each subsequent place it appears; and 
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(4) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(7) 
PREEMPTION
OF
STATE
PROPERTY 
LAWS.—The holding and distribution of receipts 
under section 112 and this section by a nonprofit 
collective designated by the Copyright Royalty 
Judges in accordance with this subsection and regu-
lations adopted by the Copyright Royalty Judges 
shall supersede and preempt any State law (includ-
ing common law) concerning escheatment or aban-
doned property, or any analogous provision, that 
might otherwise apply.’’. 
SEC. 303. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 
(b), this title and the amendments made by this title shall 
take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(b) DELAYED EFFECTIVE DATE.—The effective date 
for paragraphs (5)(B) and (6)(E) of section 114(g) of title 
17, United States Code, as added by section 302, shall 
be January 1, 2020. 
Passed the House of Representatives April 25, 2018. 
Attest: 
KAREN L. HAAS, 
Clerk. 
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