115 
cordings to the musical works the sound 
recordings embody; and 
‘‘(B) does not include any added costs in-
curred by the mechanical licensing collective to 
provide services under voluntary licenses. 
‘‘(7) COVERED ACTIVITY.—The term ‘covered 
activity’ means the activity of making a digital pho-
norecord delivery of a musical work, including in the 
form of a permanent download, limited download, or 
interactive stream, where such activity qualified for 
a compulsory license under this section. 
‘‘(8) DIGITAL
MUSIC
PROVIDER.—The term 
‘digital music provider’ means a person (or persons 
operating under the authority of that person) that, 
with respect to a service engaged in covered activi-
ties— 
‘‘(A) has a direct contractual, subscription, 
or other economic relationship with end users of 
the service, or, if no such relationship with end 
users exists, exercises direct control over the 
provision of the service to end users; 
‘‘(B) is able to fully report on any revenues 
and consideration generated by the service; and
116 
‘‘(C) is able to fully report on usage of 
sound recordings of musical works by the serv-
ice (or procure such reporting). 
‘‘(9) DIGITAL
LICENSEE
COORDINATOR.—The 
term ‘digital licensee coordinator’ means the entity 
most recently designated pursuant to subsection 
(d)(5). 
‘‘(10) DIGITAL PHONORECORD DELIVERY.—The 
term ‘digital phonorecord delivery’ means each indi-
vidual delivery of a phonorecord by digital trans-
mission of a sound recording that results in a spe-
cifically identifiable reproduction by or for any 
transmission recipient of a phonorecord of that 
sound recording, regardless of whether the digital 
transmission is also a public performance of the 
sound recording or any musical work embodied 
therein, and includes a permanent download, a lim-
ited download, or an interactive stream. A digital 
phonorecord delivery does not result from a real- 
time, noninteractive subscription transmission of a 
sound recording where no reproduction of the sound 
recording or the musical work embodied therein is 
made from the inception of the transmission through 
to its receipt by the transmission recipient in order 
to make the sound recording audible. A digital pho-
117 
norecord delivery does not include the digital trans-
mission of sounds accompanying a motion picture or 
other audiovisual work as defined in section 101 of 
this title. 
‘‘(11) ENACTMENT
DATE.—The term ‘enact-
ment date’ means the date of the enactment of the 
Musical Works Modernization Act. 
‘‘(12) INDIVIDUAL DOWNLOAD LICENSE.—The 
term ‘individual download license’ means a compul-
sory license obtained by a record company to make 
and distribute, or authorize the making and distribu-
tion of, permanent downloads embodying a specific 
individual musical work. 
‘‘(13) INTERACTIVE STREAM.—The term ‘inter-
active stream’ means a digital transmission of a 
sound recording of a musical work in the form of a 
stream, where the performance of the sound record-
ing by means of such transmission is not exempt 
under section 114(d)(1) and does not in itself, or as 
a result of a program in which it is included, qualify 
for statutory licensing under section 114(d)(2). An 
interactive stream is a digital phonorecord delivery. 
‘‘(14) INTERESTED.—The term ‘interested’, as 
applied to a party seeking to participate in a pro-
ceeding under subsection (d)(7)(D), is a party as to
118 
which the Copyright Royalty Judges have not deter-
mined that the party lacks a significant interest in 
such proceeding. 
‘‘(15) LICENSE AVAILABILITY DATE.—The term 
‘license availability date’ means the next January 1 
following the expiration of the 2-year period begin-
ning on the enactment date. 
‘‘(16) LIMITED DOWNLOAD.—The term ‘limited 
download’ means a digital transmission of a sound 
recording of a musical work in the form of a 
download, where such sound recording is accessible 
for listening only for a limited amount of time or 
specified number of times. 
‘‘(17) MATCHED.—The term ‘matched’, as ap-
plied to a musical work (or share thereof), means 
that the copyright owner of such work (or share 
thereof) has been identified and located. 
‘‘(18) MECHANICAL LICENSING COLLECTIVE.— 
The term ‘mechanical licensing collective’ means the 
entity most recently designated as such by the Reg-
ister of Copyrights under subsection (d)(3). 
‘‘(19) MECHANICAL
LICENSING
COLLECTIVE 
BUDGET.—The term ‘mechanical licensing collective 
budget’ means a statement of the financial position 
of the mechanical licensing collective for a fiscal year
119 
or quarter thereof based on estimates of expendi-
tures during the period and proposals for financing 
them, including a calculation of the collective total 
costs. 
‘‘(20) MUSICAL WORKS DATABASE.—The term 
‘musical works database’ means the database de-
scribed in subsection (d)(3)(E). 
‘‘(21) 
NONPROFIT.—The 
term 
‘nonprofit’ 
means a nonprofit created or organized in a State. 
‘‘(22) NOTICE OF LICENSE.—The term ‘notice 
of license’ means a notice from a digital music pro-
vider provided under subsection (d)(2)(A) for pur-
poses of obtaining a blanket license. 
‘‘(23) NOTICE
OF
NONBLANKET
ACTIVITY.— 
The term ‘notice of nonblanket activity’ means a no-
tice from a significant nonblanket licensee provided 
under subsection (d)(6)(A) for purposes of notifying 
the mechanical licensing collective that the licensee 
has been engaging in covered activities. 
‘‘(24) PERMANENT
DOWNLOAD.—The term 
‘permanent download’ means a digital transmission 
of a sound recording of a musical work in the form 
of a download, where such sound recording is acces-
sible for listening without restriction as to the
120 
amount of time or number of times it may be 
accessed. 
‘‘(25) QUALIFIED AUDITOR.—The term ‘quali-
fied auditor’ means an independent, certified public 
accountant with experience performing music royalty 
audits. 
‘‘(26) RECORD
COMPANY.—The term ‘record 
company’ means an entity that invests in, produces, 
and markets sound recordings of musical works, and 
distributes such sound recordings for remuneration 
through multiple sales channels, including a cor-
porate affiliate of such an entity engaged in distribu-
tion of sound recordings. 
‘‘(27) REPORT OF USAGE.—The term ‘report of 
usage’ means a report reflecting an entity’s usage of 
musical works in covered activities described in sub-
section (d)(4)(A). 
‘‘(28) REQUIRED
MATCHING
EFFORTS.—The 
term ‘required matching efforts’ means efforts to 
identify and locate copyright owners of musical 
works as described in subsection (d)(10)(B)(i). 
‘‘(29) SERVICE.—The term ‘service’, as used in 
relation to covered activities, means any site, facility, 
or offering by or through which sound recordings of
121 
musical works are digitally transmitted to members 
of the public. 
‘‘(30) SHARE.—The term ‘share’, as applied to 
a musical work, means a fractional ownership inter-
est in such work. 
‘‘(31) SIGNIFICANT NONBLANKET LICENSEE.— 
The term ‘significant nonblanket licensee’— 
‘‘(A) means an entity, including a group of 
entities under common ownership or control 
that, acting under the authority of one or more 
voluntary licenses or individual download li-
censes, offers a service engaged in covered ac-
tivities, and such entity or group of entities— 
‘‘(i) is not currently operating under a 
blanket license and is not obligated to pro-
vide reports of usage reflecting covered ac-
tivities under subsection (d)(4)(A); 
‘‘(ii) has a direct contractual, sub-
scription, or other economic relationship 
with end users of the service or, if no such 
relationship with end users exists, exercises 
direct control over the provision of the 
service to end users; and 
‘‘(iii) either—
122 
‘‘(I) on any day in a calendar 
month, makes more than 5,000 dif-
ferent sound recordings of musical 
works available through such service; 
or 
‘‘(II) derives revenue or other 
consideration in connection with such 
covered 
activities 
greater 
than 
$50,000 in a calendar month, or total 
revenue or other consideration greater 
than $500,000 during the preceding 
12 calendar months; and 
‘‘(B) does not include— 
‘‘(i) an entity whose covered activity 
consists solely of free-to-the-user streams 
of segments of sound recordings of musical 
works that do not exceed 90 seconds in 
length, are offered only to facilitate a li-
censed use of musical works that is not a 
covered activity, and have no revenue di-
rectly attributable to such streams consti-
tuting the covered activity; or 
‘‘(ii) a ‘public broadcasting entity’ as 
defined in section 118(f).
123 
‘‘(32) SONGWRITER.—The term ‘songwriter’ 
means the author of all or part of a musical work, 
including a composer or lyricist. 
‘‘(33) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each 
State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 
and each territory or possession of the United 
States. 
‘‘(34) UNCLAIMED ACCRUED ROYALTIES.—The 
term ‘unclaimed accrued royalties’ means accrued 
royalties eligible for distribution under subsection 
(d)(3)(J). 
‘‘(35) UNMATCHED.—The term ‘unmatched’, as 
applied to a musical work (or share thereof), means 
that the copyright owner of such work (or share 
thereof) has not been identified or located. 
‘‘(36) VOLUNTARY
LICENSE.—The term ‘vol-
untary license’ means a license for use of a musical 
work (or share thereof) other than a compulsory li-
cense obtained under this section.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO 
SECTION 801.—Section 801(b) of title 17, United States 
Code, is amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraph (8) as para-
graph (9); and
124 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(8) To determine the administrative assess-
ment to be paid by digital music providers under 
section 115(d). The provisions of section 115(d) 
shall apply to the conduct of proceedings by the 
Copyright Royalty Judges under section 115(d) and 
not the procedures described in this section, or sec-
tion 803, 804, or 805.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE OF AMENDED RATE SETTING 
STANDARD.—The amendments made by subsections 
(a)(3)(D) and (b)(1) shall apply to any proceeding before 
the Copyright Royalty Judges that is pending on, or com-
menced on or after, the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(d) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO 
TITLE 37, PART 385 OF THE CODE OF FEDERAL REGU-
LATIONS.—Within 9 months after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Copyright Royalty Judges shall 
amend the regulations for section 115 in part 385 of title 
37, Code of Federal Regulations to conform the definitions 
used in such part to the definitions of the same terms de-
scribed in section 115(e) of title 17, United States Code, 
as amended by subsection (a). In so doing, the Copyright 
Royalty Judges shall make adjustments to the language 
of the regulations as necessary to achieve the same pur-
125 
pose and effect as the original regulations with respect to 
the rates and terms previously adopted by the Copyright 
Royalty Judges. 
SEC. 103. AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 114. 
(a) UNIFORM RATE STANDARD.—Section 114(f) of 
title 17, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and in-
serting the following: 
‘‘(1)(A) Proceedings under chapter 8 shall de-
termine reasonable rates and terms of royalty pay-
ments for transmissions subject to statutory licens-
ing under subsection (d)(2) during the 5-year period 
beginning on January 1 of the second year following 
the year in which the proceedings are to be com-
menced pursuant to subparagraph (A) or (B) of sec-
tion 804(b)(3), as the case may be, or such other pe-
riod as the parties may agree. The parties to each 
proceeding shall bear their own costs. 
‘‘(B) The schedule of reasonable rates and 
terms determined by the Copyright Royalty Judges 
shall, subject to paragraph (2), be binding on all 
copyright owners of sound recordings and entities 
performing sound recordings affected by this para-
graph during the 5-year period specified in subpara-
graph (A), or such other period as the parties may
126 
agree. Such rates and terms shall distinguish among 
the different types of services then in operation and 
shall include a minimum fee for each such type of 
service, such differences to be based on criteria in-
cluding the quantity and nature of the use of sound 
recordings and the degree to which use of the service 
may substitute for or may promote the purchase of 
phonorecords by consumers. The Copyright Royalty 
Judges shall establish rates and terms that most 
clearly represent the rates and terms that would 
have been negotiated in the marketplace between a 
willing buyer and a willing seller. In determining 
such rates and terms, the Copyright Royalty 
Judges— 
‘‘(i) shall base their decision on economic, 
competitive, and programming information pre-
sented by the parties, including— 
‘‘(I) whether use of the service may 
substitute for or may promote the sales of 
phonorecords or otherwise may interfere 
with or may enhance the sound recording 
copyright owner’s other streams of revenue 
from the copyright owner’s sound record-
ings; and
127 
‘‘(II) the relative roles of the copy-
right owner and the transmitting entity in 
the copyrighted work and the service made 
available to the public with respect to rel-
ative creative contribution, technological 
contribution, capital investment, cost, and 
risk; and 
‘‘(ii) may consider the rates and terms for 
comparable types of audio transmission services 
and comparable circumstances under voluntary 
license agreements. 
‘‘(C) The procedures under subparagraphs (A) 
and (B) shall also be initiated pursuant to a petition 
filed by any sound recording copyright owner or any 
transmitting entity indicating that a new type of 
service on which sound recordings are performed is 
or is about to become operational, for the purpose 
of determining reasonable terms and rates of royalty 
payments with respect to such new type of service 
for the period beginning with the inception of such 
new type of service and ending on the date on which 
the royalty rates and terms for eligible nonsubscrip-
tion services and new subscription services, or pre-
existing services, as the case may be, most recently 
determined under subparagraph (A) or (B) and
128 
chapter 8 expire, or such other period as the parties 
may agree.’’; and 
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), and 
(5) as paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), respectively. 
(b) REPEAL.—Subsection (i) of section 114 of title 
17, United States Code, is repealed. 
(c) USE IN MUSICAL WORK PROCEEDINGS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—License fees payable for the 
public performance of sound recordings under sec-
tion 106(6) of title 17, United States Code, shall not 
be taken into account in any administrative, judicial, 
or other governmental proceeding to set or adjust 
the royalties payable to musical work copyright own-
ers for the public performance of their works except 
in such a proceeding to set or adjust royalties for 
the public performance of musical works by means 
of a digital audio transmission other than a trans-
mission by a broadcaster, and may be taken into ac-
count only with respect to such digital audio trans-
mission. 
(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
(A) TRANSMISSION BY A BROADCASTER.— 
A ‘‘transmission by a broadcaster’’ means a 
nonsubscription digital transmission made by a 
terrestrial broadcast station on its own behalf,
129 
or on the behalf of a terrestrial broadcast sta-
tion under common ownership or control, that 
is not part of an interactive service or a music- 
intensive service comprising the transmission of 
sound 
recordings 
customized 
for 
or 
customizable by recipients or service users. 
(B) TERRESTRIAL BROADCAST STATION.— 
A ‘‘terrestrial broadcast station’’ means a ter-
restrial, over-the-air radio or television broad-
cast station, licensed as such by the Federal 
Communications Commission, including an FM 
Translator as defined in section 74.1231 of title 
47, Code of Federal Regulations, and whose 
primary business activities are comprised of, 
and revenues are generated through, terrestrial, 
over-the-air broadcast transmissions, or the si-
multaneous or substantially-simultaneous digital 
retransmission by the terrestrial, over-the-air 
broadcast station of its over-the-air broadcast 
transmissions. 
(d) RULE
OF CONSTRUCTION.—Subsection (c)(2) 
shall not be given effect in interpreting provisions of title 
17, United States Code. 
(e) USE IN SOUND RECORDING PROCEEDINGS.—The 
repeal of section 114(i) of title 17, United States Code,
130 
by subsection (b) shall not be taken into account in any 
proceeding to set or adjust the rates and fees payable for 
the use of sound recordings under section 112(e) or sec-
tion 114(f) of such title that is pending on, or commenced 
on or after, the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(f) DECISIONS AND PRECEDENTS NOT AFFECTED.— 
The repeal of section 114(i) of title 17, United States 
Code, by subsection (b) shall not have any effect upon the 
decisions, or the precedents established or relied upon, in 
any proceeding to set or adjust the rates and fees payable 
for the use of sound recordings under section 112(e) or 
section 114(f) of such title before the date of the enact-
ment of this Act. 
(g) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) SECTION 114.—Section 114(f) of title 17, 
United States Code, as amended by subsection (a), 
is further amended in paragraph (4)(C), as so redes-
ignated, by striking ‘‘under paragraph (4)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘under paragraph (3)’’. 
(2) SECTION
801.—Section 801(b)(1) of title 
17, United States Code, is amended by striking 
‘‘The rates applicable’’ and all that follows though 
‘‘prevailing industry practices.’’. 
(3) SECTION 804.—Section 804(b)(3)(C) of title 
17, United States Code, is amended—
131 
(A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and 
114(f)(2)(C)’’; 
(B) 
in 
clause 
(iii)(II), 
by 
striking 
‘‘114(f)(4)(B)(ii)’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘114(f)(3)(B)(ii)’’; and 
(C) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘or 
114(f)(2)(C), as the case may be’’. 
SEC. 104. RANDOM ASSIGNMENT OF RATE COURT PRO-
CEEDINGS. 
Section 137 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘The business’’ and inserting 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The business’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(b) RANDOM ASSIGNMENT OF RATE COURT PRO-
CEEDINGS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(A) DETERMINATION OF LICENSE FEE.— 
Except as provided in subparagraph (B), in the 
case of any performing rights society subject to 
a consent decree, any application for the deter-
mination of a license fee for the public perform-
ance of music in accordance with the applicable 
consent decree shall be made in the district
132 
court with jurisdiction over that consent decree 
and randomly assigned to a judge of that dis-
trict court according to that court’s rules for 
the division of business among district judges 
currently in effect or as may be amended from 
time to time, provided that any such application 
shall not be assigned to— 
‘‘(i) a judge to whom continuing juris-
diction over any performing rights society 
for any performing rights society consent 
decree is assigned or has previously been 
assigned; or 
‘‘(ii) a judge to whom another pro-
ceeding concerning an application for the 
determination of a reasonable license fee is 
assigned at the time of the filing of the ap-
plication. 
‘‘(B) 
EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph 
(A) 
does not apply to an application to determine 
reasonable license fees made by individual pro-
prietors under section 513 of title 17. 
‘‘(2) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
paragraph (1) shall modify the rights of any party 
to a consent decree or to a proceeding to determine 
reasonable license fees, to make an application for
133 
the construction of any provision of the applicable 
consent decree. Such application shall be referred to 
the judge to whom continuing jurisdiction over the 
applicable consent decree is currently assigned. If 
any such application is made in connection with a 
rate proceeding, such rate proceeding shall be stayed 
until the final determination of the construction ap-
plication. Disputes in connection with a rate pro-
ceeding about whether a licensee is similarly situated 
to another licensee shall not be subject to referral to 
the judge with continuing jurisdiction over the appli-
cable consent decree.’’. 
TITLE II—COMPENSATING LEG-
ACY 
ARTISTS 
FOR 
THEIR 
SONGS, SERVICE, AND IMPOR-
TANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO SO-
CIETY 
SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Compensating Legacy 
Artists for their Songs, Service, and Important Contribu-
tions to Society Act’’ or the ‘‘CLASSICS Act’’.
134 
SEC. 202. UNAUTHORIZED DIGITAL PERFORMANCE OF PRE- 
1972 SOUND RECORDINGS. 
(a) PROTECTION FOR UNAUTHORIZED DIGITAL PER-
FORMANCES.—Title 17, United States Code, is amended 
by adding at the end the following new chapter: 
‘‘CHAPTER 14—UNAUTHORIZED DIGITAL 
PERFORMANCE OF PRE-1972 SOUND 
RECORDINGS 
‘‘Sec. 
‘‘1401. Unauthorized digital performance of pre-1972 sound recordings. 
‘‘§ 1401. Unauthorized digital performance of pre- 
1972 sound recordings 
‘‘(a) UNAUTHORIZED ACTS.—Anyone who, before 
February 15, 2067, and without the consent of the rights 
owner, performs publicly, by means of a digital audio 
transmission, a sound recording fixed on or after January 
1, 1923, and before February 15, 1972, shall be subject 
to the remedies provided in sections 502 through 505 to 
the same extent as an infringer of copyright. 
‘‘(b) CERTAIN
AUTHORIZED
TRANSMISSIONS.—A 
digital audio transmission of a sound recording fixed on 
or after January 1, 1923, and before February 15, 1972, 
shall, for purposes of subsection (a), be considered to be 
authorized and made with the consent of the rights owner 
if—
135 
‘‘(1) the transmission is made by a transmitting 
entity that is publicly performing sound recordings 
fixed on or after February 15, 1972, by means of 
digital audio transmissions subject to section 114; 
‘‘(2) the transmission would satisfy the require-
ments 
for 
statutory 
licensing 
under 
section 
114(d)(2), or would be exempt under section 
114(d)(1), if the sound recording were fixed on or 
after February 15, 1972; 
‘‘(3) in the case of a transmission that would 
not be exempt under section 114(d)(1) as described 
in paragraph (2), the transmitting entity pays statu-
tory royalties and provides notice of its use of the 
relevant sound recordings in the same manner as is 
required by regulations adopted by the Copyright 
Royalty Judges for sound recordings fixed on or 
after February 15, 1972; and 
‘‘(4) in the case of a transmission that would 
not be exempt under section 114(d)(1) as described 
in paragraph (2), the transmitting entity otherwise 
satisfies the requirements for statutory licensing 
under section 114(f)(4)(B). 
‘‘(c) TRANSMISSIONS
BY DIRECT LICENSING
OF 
STATUTORY SERVICES.—
136 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A transmission of a sound 
recording fixed on or after January 1, 1923, and be-
fore February 15, 1972, shall, for purposes of sub-
section (a), be considered to be authorized and made 
with the consent of the rights owner if such trans-
mission is included in a license agreement volun-
tarily negotiated at any time between the rights 
owner and the entity performing the sound record-
ing. 
‘‘(2) PAYMENT OF ROYALTIES TO NONPROFIT 
COLLECTIVE.—To the extent that such a license 
agreement entered into on or after the date of the 
enactment of this section extends to digital audio 
transmissions of a sound recording fixed on or after 
January 1, 1923, and before February 15, 1972, 
that meet the conditions of subsection (b), the li-
censee shall pay, to the collective designated to dis-
tribute receipts from the licensing of transmissions 
in accordance with section 114(f), 50 percent of the 
performance royalties for the transmissions due 
under the license, with such royalties fully credited 
as payments due under the license. 
‘‘(3) DISTRIBUTION OF ROYALTIES BY COLLEC-
TIVE.—The collective described in paragraph (2) 
shall, in accordance with subparagraphs (B) through
137 
(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
138 
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
139 
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
140 
(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.
141 
‘‘(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
142 
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.—
143 
‘‘(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
144 
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
145 
(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.
146 
‘‘(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
147 
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.
148 
‘‘(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
149 
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
150 
‘‘(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.
151 
‘‘(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-
152 
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