[Editor Charlie sez:  Here’s an update from Songwriters Guild of America counsel Charles Sanders on last week’s Copyright Office Unclaimed Royalties Symposium in Washington, DC.  The Copyright Office is supposed to post a video of the event at some point.]

WASHINGTON, DC: I had the opportunity yesterday to attend and participate in, on behalf of the Songwriters Guild of America (SGA), the US Copyright Office “Kickoff” symposium on the eventual disposition of unmatched mechanical royalties that will soon be turned over to the Mechanical Licensing Collective under the new Music Modernization Act.

It was a good start to a healthy music community discussion, provided that next time around we delve into the more difficult issues that have been pointed out by the US and global music creator community, as voiced yesterday by SGA. These include the fact that the creator community –despite dozens of requests over the past several years by SGA (and other attendees such as indie publisher Monica Corton and MLC Chair Alissa Coleman)– still does not know how much money in unmatched royalties is actually being held by the digital delivery services. The amount is suspected to be in the hundreds of millions. SGA was the only participant to raise this issue yesterday, and received no response.

SGA also noted for the record from the podium that the data points identified in the legislation for mandatory inclusion in the Musical Works Database still do not include the NAMES OF COMPOSERS AND SONGWRITERS, a serious omission (to say the least) that SGA has respectfully asked the US Copyright Office to address as soon as possible. It was further noted that SGA President and hit songwriter Rick Carnes, and the SGA board of directors, support strong Copyright Office oversight regarding the activities of the MLC, especially concerning identification of unmatched royalties, an issue fraught with potential conflicts of interest within the MLC board.

Society of Composers and Lyricist (SCL) president and composer/arranger /condutor Ashley Irwin, and Songwriter/Recording Artist Michelle Shocked, joined SGA in making very powerful points concerning the need to ensure the voice of the individual, independent music creator is heard on all MLC issues. They also noted for the record that the abrupt decision of independent Songwriter/Artist/Activist David Lowery to leave his position as an MLC committee member was not addressed at the meeting, nor was the process by which he will be replaced a topic of discussion. “The independent music creator community wants and should have a voice in that process,” said Irwin. “Creators have suffered grievous harm at the hands of the digital distributors,” added Shocked, “and we deserve to be heard.” She received an ovation following those very pertinent remarks at the very end of the program.

STAY TUNED.