(CelebrityAccess) — The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) announced it has completed its first-ever monthly distribution, sending more than $24 million in royalties to rightsholders.
Established as part of the Orrin G. Hatch–Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act in 2018, the MLC distributes royalties for the use of musical works by U.S. digital streaming provides.
The just-completed distribution started in February when DSPs began reporting their streaming and download usage data for January 2021 to the MLC.
According to the MLC, the royalty pool for all usage data reported to The MLC during the covered period totaled more than $53 million, of which the MLC was able to match 80% to musical works registered in its database.
Once the matching work was completed, The MLC further pared down the aggregate royalties by determining which uses were covered by voluntary licenses between the DSPs and copyright owners, leaving a total of about $40 million.
Of that, $24 million in matched royalties was paid by the MLC to members, while $16.4 million is currently pending distribution, including unclaimed works; $500 thousand in matched royalties on legal hold; and ~ $11 million related to usage that The MLC has not yet been able to match to the musical works in its public database.
According to the MLC, all royalties that have yet-to-be-distributed will accrue interest and the organization will continue to work to reduce the amount of pending royalties.
“The completion of The MLC’s first monthly processing of royalties and the payment of more than $24 million in royalties directly to rightsholders represents another step toward realizing the promise of the Music Modernization Act,” said Alisa Coleman, Chair of The MLC’s Board of Directors.
“Thanks to the hard work and diligence of our team, and the cooperation and support of our many partners, we have now begun fulfilling our important mission of ensuring that rightsholders receive their proper share of the blanket mechanical royalties paid by DSPs,” added Kris Ahrend, MLC CEO.
