What is The MLC?

The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) is a nonprofit organization designated by the U.S. Copyright Office pursuant to the historic Music Modernization Act of 2018.

In January 2021, The MLC began administering blanket mechanical licenses to streaming and download services (digital service providers or DSPs) in the United States. The MLC will then collect the royalties due under those licenses from the DSPs and pay songwriters, composers, lyricists, and music publishers provided they are members of The MLC and their works are registered.

The MLC has built a publicly accessible musical works database, as well as a portal that creators and music publishers can use to submit and maintain their musical works data. These tools will help ensure that creators and music publishers are paid properly. As the music industry continues to rapidly change, the MLC is tasked with adapting the current mechanical rights landscape to benefit both songwriters and music publishers.

The goal of The MLC is to create an efficient system for tracking the ownership and usage of mechanical music rights, allowing them to be surveyed and paid accurately.

The MLC works with licensees like digital service providers (DSPs), digital music providers (DMPs), and streaming services to accurately identify copyright holders of musical works, collect compensation on their behalf, and pay them accurately according to the applicable statutory rate.

The MLC offers a variety of services related to digital music licensing, including tracking, collecting, and administering royalties, educating licensees on how to pay royalties correctly, providing compulsory licenses for those who don’t want to negotiate directly with copyright holders, and collecting data for research purposes.

The MLC also seeks to simplify the process of obtaining a license for covers or remixes of existing songs by providing blanket licenses so that creators can use existing works without having to contact each individual copyright holder.

The MLC is led by a board composed of seven members appointed by various organizations within the music industry including BMI, ASCAP, SESAC, Universal Music Group (UMG), Sony/ATV Music Publishing (SATV), Warner Music Group (WMG), and Kobalt Music Group (KMG).

The board members are volunteers who have knowledge and experience in either copyright law or the music industry and they are responsible for setting policy and overseeing day-to-day operations. They also serve as liaisons between different stakeholders such as digital service providers, publishers, and copyright holders.

Should you join the MLC?