I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5713 
To empower independent music creator owners to collectively negotiate with 
dominant online platforms regarding the terms on which their music 
may be distributed. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 25, 2021 
Mr. DEUTCH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To empower independent music creator owners to collectively 
negotiate with dominant online platforms regarding the 
terms on which their music may be distributed. 
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 ‘‘Protect Working Musi-
cians Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Music is a cultural treasure and a unique 
source of spiritual inspiration, emotional comfort, 
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community connection, and joy. It is also a powerful 
economic driver that directly and indirectly supports 
nearly 2 million American jobs and almost $150 bil-
lion in annual economic activity. 
(2) A healthy music ecosystem is a fundamental 
bedrock for a healthy society. 
(3) Fair and competitive markets for the use 
and licensing of recorded music are integral to a 
healthy music ecosystem. 
(4) As music distribution has moved online, the 
market for use and licensing has become distorted 
and imbalanced. The largest Dominant Online Music 
Distribution Platforms use their market power to 
distort legal requirements and force music creators 
into licensing agreements that do not reflect market 
value. Those agreements essentially dictate a price 
to music creators. If music creators do not agree to 
licensing terms, the online platforms profit from un-
licensed uploads of music anyway. 
(5) These platforms game the system created 
by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which al-
lows dominant online platforms to ignore and profit 
from unlicensed use of music and places the respon-
sibility for finding each and every instance of unli-
censed use of music on music creators. This ‘‘notice 
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and takedown’’ scheme has been described as a gig-
abit-speed game of whack-a-mole. 
(6) The trade association for the major record 
labels spends millions of dollars engaged in this ef-
fort which it says has grown to be ‘‘largely useless.’’ 
The trade association for the independent record la-
bels agrees, calling it a ‘‘dysfunctional relic’’. 
(7) An effort that is largely useless for major 
and independent record labels is an exercise in futil-
ity for Independent Music Creator Owners—those 
who own the copyrights and market their work 
themselves. Independent Music Creator Owners lack 
the economic, legal, and political resources to stand 
up to the Dominant Online Music Distribution Plat-
forms and have no way to meaningfully negotiate 
fair licensing rates for their work. 
(8) That power imbalance means that Inde-
pendent Music Creator Owners are forced to take 
whatever terms dominant online platforms offer for 
their work. If they decline, the platforms simply ig-
nore them since in most cases lacking access to any 
single artists’ work does not present a threat to the 
platforms’ overall attractiveness to consumers. 
(9) This imbalance has decimated careers in 
music at an untold cost to our society and culture. 
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Multi Grammy-award winning musician Rosanne 
Cash recently lamented: ‘‘I see young musicians give 
up their missions and dreams all the time because 
they can’t make a living.’’ 
(10) The antitrust laws were intended to and 
do provide important economic and civic benefits. 
(11) A central purpose of these laws is to pro-
mote, protect, and strengthen fair and open mar-
kets, including those for music. 
(12) While antitrust exemptions are generally 
disfavored, should the application of the antitrust 
laws ever be applied in a manner that conflicts with 
their purpose—such as protecting the online market-
place for creative works—it is the duty and preroga-
tive of the Congress to resolve the conflict. 
SEC. 3. SAFE HARBOR FOR CERTAIN COLLECTIVE NEGO-
TIATIONS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘Individual Music Creator 
Owner’’ means any musician or group of musician, 
producers, mixers, and sound engineers that— 
(A) owns the copyrights to one or more 
sound recordings created by the musician or 
group of musicians, producers, and sound engi-
neers; and 
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(B) either: 
(i) has earned less than $1 million in 
licensing revenues associated with these 
copyrights in the prior year; or 
(ii) qualifies as a small business under 
the Office of Management and Budget 
North American Industry Classification 
System (NAICS) code 512250. 
(2) The term ‘‘Dominant Online Music Dis-
tribution Platform’’ means any entity that— 
(A) operates an app, website or other on-
line service that is used by members of the pub-
lic to listen to sound recordings, whether via a 
digital audio transmission, an audio-visual pres-
entation, or any other means; 
(B) has annual revenues related to the dis-
tribution of music of more than $100 million; 
and 
(C) is not eligible for a license under sec-
tion 114(d)(2) of title 17 of the United States 
Code. 
(3) The term ‘‘antitrust laws’’ has the meaning 
given such term in subsection (a) of the first section 
of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12), and includes— 
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(A) section 5 of the Federal Trade Com-
mission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to the extent that 
such section applies to unfair methods of com-
petition; and 
(B) any State law, rule, or regulation that 
prohibits or penalizes the conduct described in, 
or is otherwise inconsistent with, subsection (b) 
of this section. 
(b) LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.—An Individual Music 
Creator Owner shall not be held liable under the antitrust 
laws for agreeing with other Individual Music Creator 
Owners to collectively negotiate music licensing terms with 
a Dominant Online Music Distribution Platform or agree-
ing with other Individual Music Creator Owners to collec-
tively refuse to license their music to a Dominant Online 
Music Distribution Platform, if— 
(1) the negotiations are not limited to price, are 
nondiscriminatory as to similarly situated inde-
pendent creator/owners; 
(2) the coordination among Independent Music 
Creator Owners is directly related to and reasonably 
necessary for negotiations with a Dominant Online 
Music Distribution Platform that are otherwise con-
sistent with the operation of the Antitrust laws; and 
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(3) the negotiations do not involve any person 
that is not an Independent Music Creator Owner or 
a Dominant Online Music Distribution Platform. 
(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Except as provided in 
this Act, this Act shall not be construed to modify, impair, 
or supersede the operation of the antitrust laws. 
Æ 
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