Today, the Music Modernization Acthas passed the U.S. House of Representatives with a unanimous 415 – 0 vote (16 reps abstained from voting at all).

The mega bill — which consists of a bundle of Titles that were previously independently proposed bills — will change the way in which musical works are licensed by digital service providers and provide a safe harbor for infringement under a blanket licensing mechanism (Title One – Music Modernization Act); it will bring recordings made before 1972 under federal copyright protection (Title Two – CLASSICS Act); and it will codify an allocation of digital radio royalties to music producers and sound engineers (Title Three – AMP Act).

On its surface the MMA sounds amazing, when summarized this way.

Accordingly, the passing of the MMA in the House was widely praised by executives from the most recognizable U.S. music rights organizations and trade associations (e.g…