I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5664 
To establish the Artist Compensation Royalty Fund, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 30, 2025 
Ms. TLAIB (for herself, Mrs. MCIVER, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. OMAR, Mrs. 
RAMIREZ, and Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To establish the Artist Compensation Royalty Fund, 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 ‘‘Living Wage for Musi-
cians Act of 2025’’. 
SEC. 2. ARTIST COMPENSATION ROYALTY FUND. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Register, with the ap-
proval of the Librarian of Congress, shall designate 
an eligible entity to establish and administer a fund 
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to be known as the Artist Compensation Royalty 
Fund. 
(2) NOTICE OF DESIGNATION IN FEDERAL REG-
ISTER.—Not later than 30 days after the eligible en-
tity is designated under paragraph (1), the Register 
shall publish a notice in the Federal Register that— 
(A) includes the contact information for 
the eligible entity; and 
(B) the reason for why the Register des-
ignated the eligible entity under such para-
graph. 
(b) DEPOSIT OF AMOUNTS INTO FUND.— 
(1) DEPOSIT.—The Fund Administrator shall 
deposit into the Fund any amounts received by the 
Fund Administrator under paragraph (2) or (3). 
(2) AMOUNTS FROM SERVICE PROVIDERS.—Not 
later than the last day of the first calendar quarter 
after the calendar quarter in which the Fund Ad-
ministrator is designated, and each calendar quarter 
thereafter, a service provider shall provide to the 
Fund Administrator, for deposit into the Fund— 
(A) the amounts collected by the service 
provider in the prior calendar quarter from the 
living wage royalty fee; and 
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(B) 10 percent of any non-subscription 
revenue received by the service provider in the 
prior calendar quarter. 
(3) AMOUNTS
FROM
SOURCES
OTHER
THAN 
SERVICE PROVIDERS.—The Fund Administrator may 
receive amounts for deposit into the Fund from any 
source, including from a Federal, State, or local gov-
ernment. 
(c) USE OF FUND.—Amounts in the Fund shall be 
made available in accordance with section 3. 
SEC. 3. PAYMENTS TO MUSICAL ARTISTS FROM ARTIST 
COMPENSATION ROYALTY FUND. 
(a) IN GENERAL.— 
(1) ALLOCATION OF PAYMENTS.—Amounts in 
the Fund shall be allocated as follows: 
(A) 90 percent of such amounts shall be 
allocated for payments to eligible featured art-
ists. 
(B) 10 percent of such amounts shall be 
allocated for payments to eligible non-featured 
artists. 
(2) PAYMENTS FROM FUND.—Not later than 
the last day of the calendar quarter in which 
amounts are first deposited into the Fund under sec-
tion 2(b)(2), and once each calendar quarter there-
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after, the Fund Administrator shall promptly pro-
vide— 
(A) a percentage of the amount allocated 
under paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection to 
each eligible featured artist, that is equal to the 
percentage of qualifying streams accrued by the 
eligible featured artist in the prior calendar 
quarter out of all qualifying streams accrued by 
all eligible featured artists in the prior calendar 
quarter; and 
(B) payment from the amount allocated 
under paragraph (1)(B) of this subsection to 
the American Federation of Musicians and 
Screen Actors Guild and the American Federa-
tion of Television and Radio Artists Intellectual 
Property Rights Distribution Fund (or any suc-
cessor Fund) for distribution to each eligible 
non-featured artist. 
(3) UNCLAIMED FUNDS.—If the Fund Adminis-
trator attempts to the best of the ability of the Fund 
Administrator to identify an eligible featured artist 
to provide payment to such artist under paragraph 
(2)(A), and is unable to identify such artist at such 
time, the Fund shall— 
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(A) retain the required payment in a seg-
regated trust account; and 
(B) if the Fund Administrator is not able 
to identify such artist after a period determined 
reasonable by the Fund Administrator, deposit 
the payment back into the Fund. 
(b) RETENTION OF RECORDS.—The Fund Adminis-
trator shall— 
(1) keep books and records relating to— 
(A) amounts provided to the Fund Admin-
istrator under section 2(b)(2); and 
(B) amounts distributed from the Fund 
under subsection (a) of this section; and 
(2) retain any such book or record for a period 
of not less than 3 calendar years after the date on 
which such book or record is created. 
SEC. 4. SERVICE PROVIDER OBLIGATIONS. 
(a) LIVING WAGE ROYALTY FEE.—Beginning on a 
date determined appropriate by the Fund Administrator, 
the service provider shall charge each person charged a 
subscription fee by the service provider an additional fee 
in an amount equal to 50 percent of the subscription fee 
charged by the service provider, except that such addi-
tional fee shall not be an amount less than $4 or more 
than $10. 
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(b) NOTICE OF ADDITIONAL FEE.—In each state-
ment or receipt a service provider provides for the charge 
of a subscription fee and the additional fee required by 
subsection (a), the service provider shall include a line 
item describing such additional fee. 
(c) TREATMENT OF ROYALTY.—A service provider 
may not include the amounts collected by the service pro-
vider from the living wage royalty fee in any calculation 
by the service provider of the total costs or revenue of con-
tent for the service provider. 
(d) RECORDS.— 
(1) RETENTION.—Beginning on the date on 
which the Fund Administrator is designated— 
(A) each service provider shall keep books 
and records relating to activities carried out by 
the service provider under this Act; and 
(B) retain such book and records for a pe-
riod of not less than 3 calendar years after the 
date on which such book or record is created. 
(2) REGULATIONS.—The Fund Administrator 
may— 
(A) require, by regulation, that service pro-
viders provide the Fund Administrator informa-
tion on— 
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(i) non-subscription revenue received 
by the service provider; 
(ii) revenue received by the service 
provider from subscription fee; 
(iii) the collection of the living wage 
royalty fee by the service provider; and 
(iv) data of the service provider with 
respect to the number streams accrued by 
artists through such service provider; and 
(B) audit the books and records of a serv-
ice provider to verify any information provided 
by that service provider under subparagraph 
(A). 
SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT. 
The Fund Administrator may establish, by regula-
tion, penalties for— 
(1) a violation of a prohibition under this Act 
by a service provider; or 
(2) a failure to comply with a requirement 
under this Act by a service provider. 
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ARTIST.—The term ‘‘artist’’— 
(A) means a human creator; and 
(B) does not include— 
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(i) corporate entities; or 
(ii) fully generative artificial intel-
ligence. 
(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-
ty’’ means— 
(A) a single non-profit entity that is— 
(i) established solely for the purpose 
of establishing and administering the 
Fund; 
(ii) governed by a Board of Directors 
that includes— 
(I) committees that are composed 
of a mix of voting and nonvoting 
members; and 
(II) 
artist 
representatives 
as 
members of the Board; and 
(iii) able to demonstrate to the Reg-
ister that, by the date described under sec-
tion 3(a)(2) the entity will have the admin-
istrative and technological capabilities to 
establish and administer the Fund in ac-
cordance with this Act; and 
(B) if no entity meets the criteria under 
subparagraph (A), an entity determined by the 
Register to most nearly fit such criteria. 
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(3) ELIGIBLE
FEATURED
ARTIST.—The term 
‘‘eligible featured artist’’ means a featured artist 
who— 
(A) registers with the Fund; and 
(B) provides the Fund Administrator with 
the information determined necessary by the 
Fund Administrator— 
(i) identify or locate such featured 
artist; and 
(ii) provide payment to such featured 
artist (or a person designated by such art-
ist to receive such payment on behalf of 
such artist). 
(4) ELIGIBLE
NON-FEATURED
ARTIST
DE-
FINED.—In this paragraph, the term ‘‘eligible non- 
featured artist’’ means a non-featured artist that 
provides the American Federation of Musicians and 
Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of 
Television and Radio Artists Intellectual Property 
Rights Distribution Fund (or any successor Fund) 
with the information determined necessary by such 
Fund— 
(A) to identify or locate such non-featured 
artist; and 
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(B) provide payment to the non-featured 
artist (or a person designated by such artist to 
receive such payment on behalf of such artist). 
(5) END USER.—The term ‘‘end user’’ means a 
unique person that receives an offering from the 
service provider, including the following: 
(A) A person who pays no fee for receiving 
the offering. 
(B) A person who pays a subscription fee 
for receiving the offering. 
(6) FEATURED
ARTIST.—The term ‘‘featured 
artist’’ means an artist who is prominently featured 
on a sound recording made available through an of-
fering. 
(7) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Art-
ist Compensation Royalty Fund established by the 
Fund Administrator under section 2(a). 
(8) FUND ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Fund 
Administrator’’ means the eligible entity designated 
under section 2(a)(1). 
(9) LIVING
WAGE
ROYALTY
FEE.—The term 
‘‘living wage royalty fee’’ means the additional free 
required to be charged under section 4(a). 
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(10) MASTER RECORDING.—The term ‘‘master 
recording’’ means the original sound recording of a 
song. 
(11) NON-FEATURED ARTIST.—The term ‘‘non- 
featured artist’’— 
(A) means an artist who is not promi-
nently featured on a sound recording made 
available through an offering; and 
(B) includes the following: 
(i) A session musician. 
(ii) A back-up vocalist. 
(12) NON-SUBSCRIPTION REVENUE.—The term 
‘‘non-subscription revenue’’ means any revenue re-
ceived from music streaming (including revenue re-
ceived from advertising with respect to such music 
streaming), other than revenue from a subscription 
fee. 
(13) OFFERING.—The term ‘‘offering’’ means 
the provision of a stream by a service provider. 
(14) QUALIFYING STREAM.—The term ‘‘quali-
fying stream’’ means with respect to a master re-
cording and a calendar month, the lesser of— 
(A) the number of streams of the master 
recording accrued by the eligible featured artist 
in that calendar month; and 
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