§ 210.31 - xxx

Link to an amendment published at

§ 210.31 xxx

Cross Reference

Musical works database information.

(a) General. This section prescribes the rules under which the mechanical licensing collective will provide information relating to musical works (and shares of such works), and sound recordings in which the musical works are embodied, in the public musical works database prescribed by 17 U.S.C. 115(d)(3)(E), and to increase usability of the database.

(b) Matched musical works. With respect to musical works (or shares thereof) where the copyright owners have been identified and located, the musical works database shall contain, at a minimum, the following:

(1) Information regarding the musical work:

(i) Musical work title(s);

(ii) The copyright owner of the musical work (or share thereof), and the ownership percentage of that owner. The copyright owner of the musical work owns any one of the exclusive rights comprised in the copyright for that work. A copyright owner includes entities, including foreign collective management organizations (CMOs), to which copyright ownership has been transferred through an assignment, mortgage, exclusive license, or any other conveyance, alienation, or hypothecation of a copyright or of any of the exclusive rights comprised in a copyright, whether or not it is limited in time or place of effect, but not including a nonexclusive license;

(iii) Contact information for the copyright owner of the musical work (or share thereof), which can be a post office box or similar designation, or a “care of” address (e.g., publisher);

(iv) The mechanical licensing collective's standard identifier for the musical work; and

(v) To the extent reasonably available to the mechanical licensing collective:

(A) Any alternative or parenthetical titles for the musical work;

(B) ISWC;

(C) Songwriter(s), with the mechanical licensing collective having the discretion to allow songwriters, or their authorized representatives, to have songwriter information listed anonymously or pseudonymously. The mechanical licensing collective shall develop and make publicly available a policy on how the collective will consider requests by copyright owners or administrators to change songwriter names to be listed anonymously or pseudonymously for matched musical works;

(D) Administrator(s) or other authorized entity(ies) who license the musical work (or share thereof) and/or collect mechanical royalties for use of such musical work (or share thereof) in the United States;

(E) ISNI(s) and/or IPI(s) for each musical work copyright owner, and, if different, songwriter, and administrator;

(F) Unique identifier(s) assigned by the blanket licensee, if reported by the blanket licensee; and

(G) For classical compositions, opus and catalog numbers.

(2) Information regarding the sound recording(s) in which the musical work is embodied, to the extent reasonably available to the mechanical licensing collective:

(i) ISRC;

(ii) Sound recording name(s), including all known alternative and parenthetical titles for the sound recording;

(iii) Information related to the sound recording copyright owner, including LabelName and PLine. Should the mechanical licensing collective decide to include DDEX Party Identifier (DPID) in the public database, the DPID party's name may be included, but not the numerical identifier;

(iv) Featured artist(s);

(v) Playing time;

(vi) Version;

(vii) Release date(s);

(viii) Producer;

(ix) UPC; and

(x) Other non-confidential information that the MLC reasonably believes, based on common usage, would be useful to assist in associating sound recordings with musical works.

(c) Unmatched musical works. With respect to musical works (or shares thereof) where the copyright owners have not been identified or located, the musical works database shall include, to the extent reasonably available to the mechanical licensing collective:

(1) Information regarding the musical work:

(i) Musical work title(s), including any alternative or parenthetical titles for the musical work;

(ii) The ownership percentage of the musical work for which an owner has not been identified;

(iii) If a musical work copyright owner has been identified but not located, the identity of such owner and the ownership percentage of that owner. The copyright owner of the musical work owns any one of the exclusive rights comprised in the copyright for that work. A copyright owner includes entities, including foreign collective management organizations (CMOs), to which copyright ownership has been transferred through an assignment, mortgage, exclusive license, or any other conveyance, alienation, or hypothecation of a copyright or of any of the exclusive rights comprised in a copyright, whether or not it is limited in time or place of effect, but not including a nonexclusive license;

(iv) The mechanical licensing collective's standard identifier for the musical work;

(v) ISWC;

(vi) Songwriter(s), with the mechanical licensing collective having the discretion to allow songwriters, or their authorized representatives, to have songwriter information listed anonymously or pseudonymously. The mechanical licensing collective shall develop and make publicly available a policy on how the collective will consider requests by copyright owners or administrators to change songwriter names to be listed anonymously or pseudonymously for unmatched musical works;

(vii) Administrator(s) or other authorized entity(ies) who license the musical work (or share thereof) and/or collect mechanical royalties for use of such musical work (or share thereof) in the United States;

(viii) ISNI(s) and/or IPI(s) for each musical work copyright owner, and, if different, songwriter and administrator;

(ix) Unique identifier(s) assigned by the blanket licensee, if reported by the blanket licensee; and

(x) For classical compositions, opus and catalog numbers.

(2) Information regarding the sound recording(s) in which the musical work is embodied:

(i) ISRC;

(ii) Sound recording name(s), including all known alternative and parenthetical titles for the sound recording;

(iii) Information related to the sound recording copyright owner, including LabelName and PLine. Should the mechanical licensing collective decide to include DDEX Party Identifier (DPID) in the public database, the DPID party's name may be included, but not the numerical identifier;

(iv) Featured artist(s);

(v) Playing time;

(vi) Version;

(vii) Release date(s);

(viii) Producer;

(ix) UPC; and

(x) Other non-confidential information that the MLC reasonably believes, based on common usage, would be useful to assist in associating sound recordings with musical works, and any additional non-confidential information reported to the mechanical licensing collective that may assist in identifying musical works.

(d) Field labeling. The mechanical licensing collective shall consider industry practices when labeling fields in the public database to reduce the likelihood of user confusion, particularly regarding information relating to sound recording copyright owner. Fields displaying PLine, LabelName, or, if applicable, DPID, information may not on their own be labeled “sound recording copyright owner.”

(e) Data provenance. For information relating to sound recordings, the mechanical licensing collective shall identify the source of such information in the public musical works database. For sound recording information received from a digital music provider, the MLC shall include the name of the digital music provider.

(f) Historical data. The mechanical licensing collective shall maintain at regular intervals historical records of the information contained in the public musical works database, including a record of changes to such database information and changes to the source of information in database fields, in order to allow tracking of changes to the ownership of musical works in the database over time. The mechanical licensing collective shall determine, in its reasonable discretion, the most appropriate method for archiving and maintaining such historical data to track ownership and other information changes in the database.

(g) Personally identifiable information. The mechanical licensing collective shall not include in the public musical works database any individual's Social Security Number (SSN), taxpayer identification number, financial account number(s), date of birth (DOB), or home address or personal email to the extent it is not musical work copyright owner contact information required under 17 U.S.C. 115(d)(3)(E)(ii)(III). The mechanical licensing collective shall also engage in reasonable, good-faith efforts to ensure that other personally identifying information (i.e., information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual's identity, either alone or when combined with other information that is linked or linkable to such specific individual), is not available in the public musical works database, other than to the extent it is required by law.

(h) Disclaimer. The mechanical licensing collective shall include in the public-facing version of the musical works database a conspicuous disclaimer that states that the database is not an authoritative source for sound recording information, and explains the labeling of information related to sound recording copyright owner, including the “LabelName” and “PLine” fields.

(i) Ownership. The data in the public musical works database prescribed by 17 U.S.C. 115(d)(3)(E) is public data not owned by the mechanical licensing collective or any of the collective's employees, agents, consultants, vendors, or independent contractors.

[85 FR 86822, Dec. 31, 2020

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