According to the latest report from The Mechanical Licensing Collective better known as The MLC, suggest that it has received a total of $424,384,787 in accrued historical unmatched royalties from digital service providers (DSPs).
“In order to pursue the MMA’s restriction on liability for past infringement, a total of 20 DSPs separately transferred accumulated historically unmatched royalties to The MLC as required. In addition to the accumulated unparalleled royalties transferred to the MLC, more than 1,800 data files containing over 1.3 terabytes and nine billion lines of data were also delivered by the DSPs concerned.”
“The release of these funds is the result of a month-long initiative by the MLC and these DSPs to establish and enforce the criteria for these reports of use. The MLC will begin the process of evaluating and examining the data in order to identify and compensate the correct copyright owners with these historical unmatched royalties and use reports now in hand.”
The report down below showing the initial summary of the historical unmatched royalties separately transferred to the MLC by each DSP, where Apple and Spotify are achieved the highest growth:
This table provides information on transfers of accrued unmatched royalties (“Transfers”) by DSPs to the MLC pursuant to the Music Modernization Act (“MMA”), 17 U.S.C. 115(d)(10)(B)(iv)(III)(aa). This provision of the MMA requires DSPs to transfer to the MLC by February 15, 2021, all accrued royalties for unmatched uses of musical works that occurred prior to January 1, 2021, as one of the conditions of eligibility for a specified limitation on liability for prior infringements. The MLC is required under the MMA to engage in diligent efforts to publicize any Transfers made by a DSP throughout the music industry.
DSPs that Transfer accrued unmatched royalties must certify the accuracy of all of the data they deliver to The MLC. The MLC’s acceptance of Transfers, or posting of information on Transfers, does not constitute certification or approval by The MLC of the accuracy of any information accompanying any Transfer, the validity of any certification, or the eligibility of any DSP to make a Transfer or to obtain a limitation on liability. Finally, The MLC’s publication of that information does not constitute a representation or confirmation of any kind that a DSP has met the legal requirements necessary to obtain a limitation on liability under the MMA for any prior infringing uses.
Source: The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC)
