discussion Most impacting laws on the music industry?

[Gabe²]

what are some of the laws that impacted the music industry in the U.S. and why?

[sugarysunflower]

-Copyright Act of 1976 …. Re-establishing a work cannot be protected from copyright after 70 years

 

-Telecommunications Act of 1996 ….. corporates, so for the music industry, labels were buying radios which were before restricted to a finite number, creating an oligopoly of radio companies limiting diversity of music acts on radio and tv ; this is probably one of the most influential still impacting today

 

-Digital Millenium Copyright Act …… pointless since it circumnavigated to Napster, which was a war in itself 

 

-Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act 2004-6…… post-JJ Super Bowl , increase in censorship otherwise huge find 

 

-Music Modernization Act 2017 …. Copyright laws reflecting steaming now 

 

 

 

there’s a tonne of them, but these are the first that came To mind 

[Gabe²]

1 hour ago, sugarysunflower said:

-Music Modernization Act 2017 …. Copyright laws reflecting steaming now

 

there’s a tonne of them, but these are the first that came To mind 

can you talk more about this law? why was it needed? and problem did it fix?

[sugarysunflower]

This link provides what I find the most simplest explanation of the MMA: https://iconcollective.edu/music-modernization-act/

 

the main outcome and benefit of the act is that it takes into account digital streaming platforms into the bill for the first time and the responsibilities of them, labels and a massive NGO (The Mechanical Licensing Collective) to collect and distribute royalties fairly, and have an accurate database of all music and their songwriters/copyright owners. 

 

additionally, there was a rule that meant legacy artists, or work from ages and ages ago, (ie. Classics) get properly accredited and are not lost, and thus unpaid,  in the big myriad of songs out there. 

bear in mind

 

-the mlc only accounts for MECHANICAL royalties, and not from performing rights royalties that come from ASCAP or BMI

-the mlc will not distribute mechanical royalties if there are private agreements with labels, streaming services or other distributors. It’s a standardised aligned fee structure, highly benefitting indie acts. 
-registering your songs under the MLC does not protect your songs from copyright, you still have to register with the US copyright office 

 

it’s a bit massive bill made up of three parts but these are the basic points and main benefits. 

[sugarysunflower]

9 hours ago, Gabe² said:

can you talk more about this law? why was it needed? and problem did it fix?

See my post above ^