SONA Applauds U.S. Copyright Office’s Choice of Industry-Consensus MLC

July 5, 2019, Washington DC: The United States Copyright Office (USCO) today designated the industry-consensus Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) as the new entity tasked with licensing and administering rights under the Music Modernization Act (MMA). Songwriters of North America (SONA) was proud to partner with the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) and the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) in the transparent and democratic process leading to this submission and are pleased with the decision by the Copyright Office.

The designated MLC’s board includes chairman Alisa Coleman (ABKCO) and directors Jeff Brabec (BMG), Peter Brodsky (Sony/ATV), Bob Bruderman (Kobalt), Tim Cohan (peermusic), Scott Cutler (Pulse Music Group), Paul Kahn (Warner/Chappell Music), David Kokakis (UMPG), Mike Molinar (Big Machine Music), Evelyn Paglinawan (Concord Music), Kara DioGuardi (Songs by KDG), Oak Felder (Crow’s Tree Publishing), Kevin Kadish (We Are Made of Music), and Tim Nichols (THiS Music). Non-voting members include Bart Herbison (NSAI) and Danielle Aguirre (NMPA).

SONA Executive Director Michelle Lewis praised the decision saying,“SONA would like to thank Karyn Temple and the US Copyright Office for their efforts and their expertise, and we welcome the designation of the coalition-led MLC as the chosen licensing collective. SONA will remain committed to being a guardian of the MMA, which we and other stakeholders worked so hard to pass. We intend to work with this MLC to help educate all songwriters on the importance of accurate registration and to ensure that a state-of-the-art database be built, serving all entitled parties to receive the royalties they have rightfully earned.”