As you may recall, The MLC has still not been able to distribute any matched royalties from the Phono 3 rate period because the rates for that period were only finalized by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) in August 2023, and the applicable regulations give DSPs until next month (February 9, 2024) to deliver the data for any retroactive adjustments they need to make to the data they originally delivered to The MLC based on the new final rates.
After DSPs have delivered the required adjustments to their prior usage reporting for these Phono 3 historical uses, The MLC will finally be in a position to begin distributing matched historical royalties for uses that took place during the Phono 3 rate period. We anticipate we will begin distributing matched historical royalties from the Phono 3 rate period later this spring.
There are three sets of adjustments to previously reported usage data and royalties that DSPs will need to make now that the CRB has finalized the rates for the Phono 3 rate period — one of which will need to be handled solely by DSPs and two of which will involve both the DSPs (in the first instance) and then The MLC. Those three categories of adjustments are shown below.
The MLC plans to begin distributing these adjusted royalties in stages. As early as this spring, we aim to begin distributing matched Phono 3 historical royalties (from 2018-2020). After that, we aim to begin distributing the Phono 3 adjustments to blanket royalties (from 2021-2022). From there, we will continue to distribute matched Phono 3 historical royalties and adjusted Phono 3 blanket royalties throughout the rest of 2024 and likely into 2025.
In the meantime, we encourage all our Members to continue to make sure you have claimed your shares of any works that have already been registered with The MLC, register any songs that are not yet in the database, and propose matches of any unmatched uses to songs you have registered with The MLC. More than 40% of the unpaid blanket royalties The MLC has accrued to date relate to shares of registered works that have not yet been claimed by the appropriate rightsholders. Our Member Tools make it easy to take these steps, and our Support Team is here to answer any questions you may have.
Please continue to check our monthly Member newsletter for more information and updates on timing.