Prior to 2018, the last significant piece of copyright legislation addressing digital developments in music was the 1995 Digital Performance Right in Recordings Act (DPRA), see Digital Performance Right In Sound Recordings Act Of 1995, 109 Stat. 336. In light of the rise of digital music providers, the DPRA recognized the need for a public performance royalty for the digital transmission of sound recordings. While the DPRA was impactful at the time, legislators could not have anticipated the monumental shift from physical to digital music consumption. In the 20-plus years from enactment of the DPRA, it became clear that another update was necessary.

The Music Modernization Act (MMA) was signed into law on Oct. 11, after passing unanimously in both the Senate and House, 115 P.L. 264, 132 Stat. 3676 (2018). The law reforms the intricacies of music licensing and accounts for the impact on royalties from interactive and noninteractive digital music services. (An interactive service is one “that enables a member of the public to receive a transmission of a program specially created for the recipient, or on request, a transmission of a particular sound recording … which is selected by or on behalf of the recipient,” 17 U.S.C. Section 114(j)(7)).

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