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Music Modernization Act

Floor Speech

Date: April 25, 2018
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Arts, Entertainment, and History

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Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Music Modernization Act. I am proud to partner with Chairman Goodlatte on this comprehensive bill intended to resolve some longstanding inequities and inefficiencies in the music marketplace. We have achieved consensus on this bill, which passed out of the Judiciary Committee by a remarkable vote of 32-0.

The package includes the original Music Modernization Act, H.R. 4706, introduced by Mr. Collins and Mr. Jeffries, which significantly reforms the process for licensing mechanical reproduction royalties under section 115 of the Copyright Act. It also includes a number of provisions to ensure that songwriters and other music creators receive fair market value for their work.

The package includes the CLASSICS Act, H.R. 3301, introduced by Chairman Issa and me, to resolve the dispute over payment to legacy artists for pre-1972 works played on digital radio platforms.

For too long, many of our Nation's great cultural icons have been unfairly denied compensation. That is why this measure is supported by the NAACP and more than 300 major artists.

The bill includes the AMP Act, H.R. 831, introduced by Mr. Crowley and Mr. Rooney, to simplify the payment of royalties to producers, mixers, and engineers, recognizing in Federal copyright their important contributions to the creation of music.

Several of these measures were included in the Fair Play Fair Pay Act, H.R. 1836, a bipartisan bill I introduced with Representative Marsha Blackburn, Chairman Issa, and Mr. Deutch, to create a uniform system for sound recordings. They, along with Mr. Collins and Mr. Jeffries, deserve a tremendous amount of credit for getting us to this point.

We are at a unique moment in time where virtually all the industry stakeholders have come together in support of a common music policy agenda. The bill is supported by a broad coalition that includes songwriters and artists, publishers and labels, and internet and digital media companies such as Pandora, Spotify, Google, and Amazon.

I want to thank the members of my staff who worked for years to resolve some very complex and sensitive issues to move this legislation forward: Lisette Morton, Jason Everett, and David Greengrass. This is an historic opportunity to accomplish a great deal that hasn't been done in decades.

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