The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) was designated by the U.S. Copyright Office in 2019 to carry out the vision of the Music Modernization Act (MMA), which was passed unanimously by Congress in 2018. Thanks to the work of songwriters, artists, publishers, producers, distributors and other stakeholders involved in the creation and distribution of music as well the Members of Congress who supported this legislation, the creation of The MLC has revolutionized the way rightsholders receive their mechanical royalties. Now, The MLC is responsible for the administration of the blanket license — collecting mechanical royalties from DSPs and distributing them to the correct rightsholders.
The U.S. Copyright Office authors regulations governing the MLC’s statutory operations and reviews The MLC’s policies and procedures to ensure they align with copyright law and support songwriters and The MLC’s mission. Both entities collaborate to promote education that helps songwriters and other copyright owners understand the new blanket license and how to collect their mechanical royalties.
Thanks in part to this collaboration, The MLC has reached many milestones since beginning operations in 2021, including paying out over $1 billion in royalties to rightsholders.