I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4706 
To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide clarity and modernize 
the licensing system for musical works under section 115 and to ensure 
fairness in the establishment of certain rates and fees under sections 
114 and 115 of such title, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 21, 2017 
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia (for himself, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. CROWLEY, Mrs. 
BLACK, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. 
SESSIONS, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. COOPER, and Ms. 
BASS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide clarity 
and modernize the licensing system for musical works 
under section 115 and to ensure fairness in the establish-
ment of certain rates and fees under sections 114 and 
115 of such title, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Music Modernization 
Act of 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. BLANKET LICENSE FOR DIGITAL USES AND ME-
CHANICAL LICENSING COLLECTIVE. 
(a) AMENDMENT.—Section 115 of title 17, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘IN
GENERAL’’ after 
‘‘AVAILABILITY
AND SCOPE
OF COMPULSORY 
LICENSE’’; and 
(B) by striking paragraph (1) and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(1)(A) A person may by complying with the 
provisions of this section obtain a compulsory license 
to make and distribute phonorecords of a nondra-
matic musical work, including by means of digital 
phonorecord delivery. A person may obtain a com-
pulsory license only if the primary purpose in mak-
ing phonorecords of the musical work is to distribute 
them to the public for private use, including by 
means of digital phonorecord delivery, and— 
‘‘(i) phonorecords of such musical work 
have previously been distributed to the public in 
the United States under the authority of the 
copyright owner of the work; or 
‘‘(ii) in the case of a digital music provider 
seeking to make and distribute digital phono-
record deliveries of a sound recording embody-
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ing a musical work under a compulsory li-
cense— 
‘‘(I) the copyright owner of the sound 
recording first fixed such sound recording 
under the authority of the copyright owner 
of the musical work and is further author-
ized by the copyright owner of the musical 
work to make and distribute phonorecords 
embodying such work to the public in the 
United States; and 
‘‘(II) the copyright owner of the 
sound recording or its authorized dis-
tributor has authorized the digital music 
provider to make and distribute digital 
phonorecord deliveries of the sound record-
ing to the public in the United States. 
‘‘(B) A person may not obtain a compulsory li-
cense for the use of the work in the making of 
phonorecords duplicating a sound recording fixed by 
another, including by means of digital phonorecord 
delivery, unless— 
‘‘(i) such sound recording was fixed law-
fully; and 
‘‘(ii) the making of the phonorecords was 
authorized by the owner of the copyright in the 
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sound recording or, if the sound recording was 
fixed before February 15, 1972, by any person 
who fixed the sound recording pursuant to an 
express license from the owner of the copyright 
in the musical work or pursuant to a valid com-
pulsory license for use of such work in a sound 
recording.’’; 
(2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(b) PROCEDURES TO OBTAIN A COMPULSORY LI-
CENSE.— 
‘‘(1) PHONORECORDS
OTHER
THAN
DIGITAL 
PHONORECORD DELIVERIES.—A person who seeks to 
obtain a compulsory license under this section to 
make and distribute phonorecords of a musical work 
other than by means of digital phonorecord delivery 
shall, before or within 30 days after making, and be-
fore distributing, any phonorecord of the work, serve 
notice of intention to do so on the copyright owner. 
If the registration or other public records of the 
Copyright Office do not identify the copyright owner 
and include an address at which notice can be 
served, it shall be sufficient to file the notice of in-
tention in the Copyright Office. The notice shall 
comply, in form, content, and manner of service, 
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with requirements that the Register of Copyrights 
shall prescribe by regulation. 
‘‘(2) DIGITAL PHONORECORD DELIVERIES.—A 
person who seeks to obtain a compulsory license 
under 
this 
section 
to 
make 
and 
distribute 
phonorecords of a musical work by means of digital 
phonorecord delivery— 
‘‘(A) prior to the license availability date 
set forth in subsection (e), shall, before or with-
in 30 days after first making any such digital 
phonorecord delivery, serve a notice of intention 
to do so on the copyright owner. The notice, 
which may not be filed with the Copyright Of-
fice, shall comply, in form, content, and manner 
of service, with requirements that the Register 
of Copyrights shall prescribe by regulation; and 
‘‘(B) on or after the license availability 
date, shall, before making any such digital pho-
norecord delivery, follow the procedure set forth 
in subsection (d)(2), except as provided in para-
graph (3). 
‘‘(3) 
RECORD
COMPANY
DOWNLOAD
LI-
CENSES.—Notwithstanding anything to the contrary 
in this section, a record company may, on or after 
the license availability date, obtain a license to make 
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and distribute, or authorize the making and distribu-
tion of, digital phonorecord deliveries of musical 
works in the form of permanent downloads in the 
manner described in paragraph (2)(A). A record 
company that obtains a compulsory license for per-
manent downloads as permitted under this para-
graph shall provide statements of account and pay 
royalties as provided in subsection (c)(5). 
‘‘(4) FAILURE TO OBTAIN LICENSE.— 
‘‘(A) PHONORECORDS OTHER THAN DIG-
ITAL PHONORECORD DELIVERIES.—In the case 
of phonorecords made and distributed other 
than by means of digital phonorecord delivery, 
the failure to serve or file the notice of inten-
tion required by paragraph (1) forecloses the 
possibility of a compulsory license under para-
graph (1). In the case of phonorecords made 
and distributed by means of digital phonorecord 
delivery prior to the license availability date, the 
failure to serve the notice of intention required 
by paragraph (2)(A) forecloses the possibility of 
a compulsory license under paragraph (2)(A). 
In either case, in the absence of a voluntary li-
cense, the failure to obtain a compulsory license 
renders 
the 
making 
and 
distribution 
of 
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phonorecords, including by means of digital 
phonorecord delivery, actionable as acts of in-
fringement under section 501 and subject to the 
remedies provided by sections 502 through 506. 
‘‘(B) 
DIGITAL
PHONORECORD
DELIV-
ERIES.—In the case of phonorecords made and 
distributed by means of digital phonorecord de-
livery on or after the license availability date, 
the failure to comply with paragraph (2)(B), or, 
if applicable, paragraph (3), forecloses the pos-
sibility of a compulsory license under this sec-
tion. In the absence of a voluntary license, the 
failure to obtain a compulsory license renders 
the making and distribution of phonorecords by 
means of digital phonorecord delivery actionable 
as acts of infringement under section 501 and 
subject to the remedies provided by sections 
502 through 506.’’; 
(3) in subsection (c)— 
(A) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(1) To be entitled to receive royalties under a 
compulsory license obtained under subsection (b)(1) 
the copyright owner must be identified in the reg-
istration or other public records of the Copyright Of-
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