(a) Scope. This part establishes rates and terms of royalty payments for the use of nondramatic musical works in making and distributing of physical and digital phonorecords in accordance with the provisions of 17 U.S.C. 115. This subpart contains regulations of general application to the making and distributing of phonorecords subject to the section 115 license.

(b) Legal compliance. Licensees relying on the compulsory license detailed in 17 U.S.C. 115 shall comply with the requirements of that section, the rates and terms of this part, and any other applicable regulations. This part describes rates and terms for the compulsory license only.

(c) Interpretation. This part is intended only to set rates and terms for situations in which the exclusive rights of a Copyright Owner are implicated and a compulsory license pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 115 is obtained. Neither this part nor the act of obtaining a license under 17 U.S.C. 115 is intended to express or imply any conclusion as to the circumstances in which a user must obtain a compulsory license pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 115.

(d) Relationship to voluntary agreements. The rates and terms of any license agreements entered into by Copyright Owners and Licensees relating to use of musical works within the scope of those license agreements shall apply in lieu of the rates and terms of this part.

Unless otherwise specified, capitalized terms in this part shall have the same meaning given to them in 17 U.S.C. 115(e). For the purposes of this part, the following definitions apply:

Accounting Period means the monthly period specified in 17 U.S.C. 115(c)(2)(I) and in 17 U.S.C. 115(d)(4)(A)(i), and any related regulations, as applicable.

Active Subscriber means an End User of a Bundled Subscription Offering who has made at least one Play during the Accounting Period.

Affiliate means an entity controlling, controlled by, or under common control with another entity, except that an affiliate of a Sound Recording Company shall not include a Copyright Owner to the extent it is engaging in business as to musical works.

Artificial Accounts are accounts that are disabled or terminated for having engaged in User Manipulation or other fraudulent activity and for which any subscription revenues are refunded or otherwise not received by the Service Provider.

Bundle means a combination of a Subscription Offering providing Eligible Interactive Streams and/or Eligible Limited Downloads and one or more other products or services having more than token value, purchased by End Users in a single transaction (e.g., where End Users make a single payment without separate pricing for the Subscription Offering component).

Bundled Subscription Offering means a Subscription Offering providing Eligible Interactive Streams and/or Eligible Limited Downloads included within a Bundle.

Copyright Owner(s) are nondramatic musical works copyright owners who are entitled to royalty payments made under this part pursuant to the compulsory license under 17 U.S.C. 115.

Digital Phonorecord Delivery has the same meaning as in 17 U.S.C. 115(e)(10).

Eligible Interactive Stream means a Stream that is an Interactive Stream as defined in 17 U.S.C. 115(e)(13).

Eligible Limited Download means a Limited Download as defined in 17 U.S.C. 115(e)(16) that is only accessible for listening for—

(1) An amount of time not to exceed one month from the time of the transmission (unless the Licensee, in lieu of retransmitting the same sound recording as another Eligible Limited Download, separately, and upon specific request of the End User made through a live network connection, reauthorizes use for another time period not to exceed one month), or in the case of a subscription plan, a period of time following the end of the applicable subscription no longer than a subscription renewal period or three months, whichever is shorter; or

(2) A number of times not to exceed 12 (unless the Licensee, in lieu of retransmitting the same sound recording as another Eligible Limited Download, separately, and upon specific request of the End User made through a live network connection, reauthorizes use of another series of 12 or fewer plays), or in the case of a subscription transmission, 12 times after the end of the applicable subscription.

End User means each unique person that:

(1) Pays a subscription fee for an Offering during the relevant Accounting Period; or

(2) Makes at least one Play during the relevant Accounting Period.

Family Plan means a discounted Subscription Offering to be shared by up to six members of the same family or household for a single subscription price.

Free Trial Offering means a subscription to a Service Provider's transmissions of sound recordings embodying musical works when—

(1) Neither the Service Provider, the Sound Recording Company, the Copyright Owner, nor any person or entity acting on behalf of or in lieu of any of them receives any monetary consideration for the Offering;

(2) The usage does not exceed 45 days per subscriber per one-year period, which days may be nonconsecutive;

(3) In connection with the Offering, the Service Provider complies with the recordkeeping requirements in § 385.4 or superseding Copyright Office recordkeeping requirements;

(4) The Free Trial Offering is made available to the End User free of any charge; and

(5) The Service Provider offers the End User periodically during the trial an opportunity to subscribe to, and/or auto-renews the End User into, a non-Free Trial Offering of the Service Provider.

GAAP means U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in effect at the relevant time, except that if the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission permits or requires entities with securities that are publicly traded in the U.S. to employ International Financial Reporting Standards in lieu of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, then that entity may employ International Financial Reporting Standards as “GAAP” for purposes of this subpart.

Licensee means any entity availing itself of the compulsory license under 17 U.S.C. 115 to use copyrighted musical works in the making or distributing of physical or digital phonorecords.

Licensed Activity as the term is used in subparts C and D of this part, means Covered Activity, under voluntary or statutory license, in the form of Eligible Interactive Streams, Eligible Limited Downloads, and Restricted Downloads.

Locker Service means an Offering providing digital access to sound recordings of musical works in the form of Eligible Interactive Streams, Permanent Downloads, Restricted Downloads or Ringtones where the Service Provider has reasonably determined that the End User has purchased or is otherwise in possession of the subject phonorecords of the applicable sound recording prior to the End User's first request to use the sound recording via the Locker Service. The term Locker Service does not mean any part of a Service Provider's products otherwise meeting this definition, but as to which the Service Provider has not obtained a section 115 license.

Mixed Service Bundle means an Offering providing Licensed Activity consisting of Eligible Interactive Streams or Eligible Limited Downloads that meets all of the following criteria:

(1) The Offering is made available to End Users only in combination (i.e., the Offering is not available on a standalone basis) with one or more products or services (including services subject to other subparts) of more than token value as part of one transaction for which End Users make a payment without receiving pricing for the Offering separate from the product(s) or service(s) with which it is made available.

(2) The Offering is made available by a Service Provider that also offers End Users a separate, standalone Subscription Offering.

(3) The Offering offers End Users less functionality relative to that separate, standalone Subscription Offering. Such lesser functionality may include, but is not limited to, limitations on the ability of End Users to choose to listen to specific sound recordings on request or a limited catalog of sound recordings.

(4) Where an Offering could qualify or be considered as either a Bundled Subscription Offering or a Mixed Service Bundle, such Offering shall be deemed a Mixed Service Bundle for the purpose of calculating and paying royalties under subpart C of this part.

Music Bundle means two or more of physical phonorecords, Permanent Downloads or Ringtones delivered as part of one transaction (e.g., download plus ringtone, CD plus downloads). In the case of Music Bundles containing one or more physical phonorecords, the Service Provider must sell the physical phonorecord component of the Music Bundle under a single catalog number, and the musical works embodied in the Digital Phonorecord Delivery configurations in the Music Bundle must be the same as, or a subset of, the musical works embodied in the physical phonorecords; provided that when the Music Bundle contains a set of Digital Phonorecord Deliveries sold by the same Sound Recording Company under substantially the same title as the physical phonorecord (e.g., a corresponding digital album), the Service Provider may include in the same bundle up to 5 sound recordings of musical works that are included in the stand-alone version of the set of digital phonorecord deliveries but not included on the physical phonorecord. In addition, the Service Provider must permanently part with possession of the physical phonorecord or phonorecords it sells as part of the Music Bundle. In the case of Music Bundles composed solely of digital phonorecord deliveries, the number of digital phonorecord deliveries in either configuration cannot exceed 20, and the musical works embodied in each configuration in the Music Bundle must be the same as, or a subset of, the musical works embodied in the configuration containing the most musical works.

Offering means a Service Provider's engagement in Licensed Activity covered by subparts C and D of this part.

Paid Locker Service means a Locker Service for which the End User pays a fee to the Service Provider.

Performance Royalty means the license fee payable for the right to perform publicly musical works in any of the forms covered by subparts C and D this part.

Permanent Download has the same meaning as in 17 U.S.C. 115(e)(24).

Play means an Eligible Interactive Stream, or a play of an Eligible Limited Download, lasting 30 seconds or more and, if a track lasts in its entirety under 30 seconds, an Eligible Interactive Stream or a play of an Eligible Limited Download of the entire duration of the track. A Play excludes an Eligible Interactive Stream or a play of an Eligible Limited Download caused by User Manipulation.

Promotional Offering means a digital transmission of a sound recording, in the form of an Eligible Interactive Stream or an Eligible Limited Download, embodying a musical work, the primary purpose of which is to promote the sale or other paid use of that sound recording or to promote the artist performing on that sound recording and not to promote or suggest promotion or endorsement of any other good or service and

(1) A Sound Recording Company is lawfully distributing the sound recording through established retail channels or, if the sound recording is not yet released, the Sound Recording Company has a good faith intention to lawfully distribute the sound recording or a different version of the sound recording embodying the same musical work;

(2) The Service Provider is in compliance with the recordkeeping requirements of § 385.4 or superseding Copyright Office recordkeeping requirements;

(3) For Eligible Interactive Streams of segments of sound recordings not exceeding 90 seconds, the Sound Recording Company delivers or authorizes delivery of the segments for promotional purposes and neither the Service Provider nor the Sound Recording Company creates or uses a segment of a sound recording in violation of 17 U.S.C. 106(2) or 115(a)(2);

(4) The Promotional Offering is made available to an End User free of any charge; and

(5) The Service Provider provides to the End User at the same time as the Promotional Offering Stream an opportunity to purchase the sound recording or the Service Provider periodically offers End Users the opportunity to subscribe to a paid Offering of the Service Provider.

Purchased Content Locker Service means a Locker Service made available to End User purchasers of Permanent Downloads, Ringtones, or physical phonorecords at no incremental charge above the otherwise applicable purchase price of the Permanent Downloads, Ringtones, or physical phonorecords acquired from a qualifying seller. With a Purchased Content Locker Service, an End User may receive one or more additional phonorecords of the purchased sound recordings of musical works in the form of Permanent Downloads or Ringtones at the time of purchase, or subsequently have digital access to the purchased sound recordings of musical works in the form of Eligible Interactive Streams, additional Permanent Downloads, Restricted Downloads, or Ringtones.

(1) A qualifying seller for purposes of this definition is the entity operating the Service Provider, including Affiliates, predecessors, or successors in interest, or—

(2) In the case of Permanent Downloads or Ringtones, a seller having a legitimate connection to the locker service provider pursuant to one or more written agreements (including that the Purchased Content Locker Service and Permanent Downloads or Ringtones are offered through the same third party); or

(3) In the case of physical phonorecords:

(i) The seller of the physical phonorecord has an agreement with the Purchased Content Locker Service provider establishing an integrated offer that creates a consumer experience commensurate with having the same Service Provider both sell the physical phonorecord and offer the integrated locker service; or

(ii) The Service Provider has an agreement with the entity offering the Purchased Content Locker Service establishing an integrated offer that creates a consumer experience commensurate with having the same Service Provider both sell the physical phonorecord and offer the integrated locker service.

Relevant Page means an electronic display (for example, a web page or screen) from which a Service Provider's Offering consisting of Eligible Interactive Streams or Eligible Limited Downloads is directly available to End Users, but only when the Offering and content directly relating to the Offering (e.g., an image of the artist, information about the artist or album, reviews, credits, and music player controls) comprises 75% or more of the space on that display, excluding any space occupied by advertising. An Offering is directly available to End Users from a page if End Users can receive sound recordings of musical works (in most cases this will be the page on which the Eligible Limited Download or Eligible Interactive Stream takes place).

Restricted Download means a Digital Phonorecord Delivery in a form that cannot be retained and replayed on a permanent basis. The term Restricted Download includes an Eligible Limited Download.

Ringtone means a phonorecord of a part of a musical work distributed as a Digital Phonorecord Delivery in a format to be made resident on a telecommunications device for use to announce the reception of an incoming telephone call or other communication or message or to alert the receiver to the fact that there is a communication or message.

Service Provider means that entity governed by subparts C and D of this part, which might or might not be the Licensee, that with respect to the section 115 license.

(1) Contracts with or has a direct relationship with End Users or otherwise controls the content made available to End Users;

(2) Is able to report fully on Service Provider Revenue from the provision of musical works embodied in phonorecords to the public, and to the extent applicable, verify Service Provider Revenue through an audit; and

(3) Is able to report fully on its usage of musical works, or procure such reporting and, to the extent applicable, verify usage through an audit.

Service Provider Revenue. (1) Subject to paragraphs (2) through (5) of this definition and subject to GAAP, Service Provider Revenue shall mean, for each Offering subject to subpart C of this part:

(i) All revenue from End Users recognized by a Service Provider for the provision of the Offering;

(ii) All revenue recognized by a Service Provider by way of sponsorship and commissions as a result of the inclusion of third-party “in-stream” or “in-download” advertising as part of the Offering, i.e., advertising placed immediately at the start or end of, or during the actual delivery of, a musical work, by way of Eligible Interactive Streams or Eligible Limited Downloads; and

(iii) All revenue recognized by the Service Provider, including by way of sponsorship and commissions, as a result of the placement of third-party advertising on a Relevant Page of the Service Provider or on any page that directly follows a Relevant Page leading up to and including the Eligible Limited Download or Eligible Interactive Stream of a musical work; provided that, in case more than one Offering is available to End Users from a Relevant Page, any advertising revenue shall be allocated between or among the Service Providers on the basis of the relative amounts of the page they occupy.

(2) Service Provider Revenue shall:

(i) Include revenue recognized by the Service Provider, or by any associate, Affiliate, agent, or representative of the Service Provider in lieu of its being recognized by the Service Provider; and

(ii) Include the value of any barter or other nonmonetary consideration; and

(iii) Except as expressly detailed in this part, not be subject to any other deduction or set-off other than refunds to End Users for Offerings that the End Users were unable to use because of technical faults in the Offering or other bona fide refunds or credits issued to End Users in the ordinary course of business.

(3) Service Provider Revenue shall exclude revenue derived by the Service Provider solely in connection with activities other than Offering(s), whereas advertising or sponsorship revenue derived in connection with any Offering(s) shall be treated as provided in paragraphs (1), (2) and (4) of this definition.

(4) For purposes of paragraph (1) of this definition, advertising or sponsorship revenue shall be reduced by the actual cost of obtaining that revenue, not to exceed 15%.

(5) In instances in which a Service Provider provides a Bundled Subscription Offering to End Users, the revenue from End Users deemed to be recognized by the Service Provider for the Offering for the purpose of paragraph (1) of this definition of Service Provider Revenue shall be as follows:

(i) For Bundled Subscription Offerings where both (a) each component of the Bundle is a product or service of the Service Provider (including Affiliates) and (b) the Service Provider (including Affiliates) makes the Bundle available to End Users directly, then the revenue from End Users deemed to be recognized by the Service Provider for the purpose of paragraph (1) of this definition shall be the aggregate of the retail price paid for the Bundle (i.e., all components for one retail price) multiplied by a fraction where the numerator is the standalone retail price of the Subscription Offering component in the Bundle and the denominator is the sum of the standalone retail prices of each of the components in the Bundle (e.g., if a Service Provider sells the Subscription Offering component on a standalone basis for $10/month and a separate product and/or service on a standalone basis for $5/month, then the fraction shall be $10 divided by $15, i.e., 2/3, resulting in Service Provider Revenue of $8,000 if the aggregate of the retail price paid for the Bundle is $12,000).

(ii) For Bundled Subscription Offerings where either one or more components of the Bundle are not products or services of the Service Provider (including Affiliates) or the Service Provider (including Affiliates) does not make the Bundle available to End Users directly, then the revenue from End Users deemed to be recognized by the Service Provider for the purpose of paragraph (1) of this definition shall be the revenue recognized by the Service Provider from the Bundle multiplied by a fraction where the numerator is the standalone retail price of the Subscription Offering component in the Bundle and the denominator is the sum of the standalone retail prices of each of the components of the Bundle. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, where the Service Provider does not recognize revenue for one or more components of the Bundle, then the standalone price(s) of the component(s) for which revenue is not recognized shall not be included in the calculation of the denominator of the fraction described in this sub-paragraph (e.g., where a Bundle of three services, each with a standalone price of $20/month, sells for $50/month, and the Service Provider recognizes $30,000 of revenue from the provision of only two of those services, one of which is a Subscription Offering, then the fraction shall be $20 divided by $40, i.e., 1/2, resulting in Service Provider Revenue of $15,000).

(iii) For the calculations in paragraphs (5)(i) and (ii) of this definition, in the event that there is no standalone published price for a component of the Bundle, then the Service Provider shall use the average standalone published price for End Users for the most closely comparable product or service in the U.S. or, if more than one comparable exists, the average of standalone prices for comparables. If no reasonably comparable product or service exists in the U.S., then the Service Provider may use another good faith, reasonable measure of the market value of the component.

Sound Recording Company means a person or entity that:

(1) Is a copyright owner of a sound recording embodying a musical work;

(2) In the case of a sound recording of a musical work fixed before February 15, 1972, has rights to the sound recording, under chapter 14 of title 17, United States Code, that are equivalent to the rights of a copyright owner of a sound recording of a musical work under title 17, United States Code;

(3) Is an exclusive Licensee of the rights to reproduce and distribute a sound recording of a musical work; or

(4) Performs the functions of marketing and authorizing the distribution of a sound recording of a musical work under its own label, under the authority of a person identified in paragraph (1) through (3).

Standalone Limited Offering means a Subscription Offering providing Eligible Interactive Streams or Eligible Limited Downloads for which—

(1) An End User cannot choose to listen to a particular sound recording (i.e., the Service Provider does not provide Eligible Interactive Streams of individual recordings that are on-demand, and Eligible Limited Downloads are rendered only as part of programs rather than as individual recordings that are on-demand); or

(2) The particular sound recordings available to the End User over a period of time are substantially limited relative to Service Providers in the marketplace providing access to a comprehensive catalog of recordings (e.g., a product limited to a particular genre or permitting Eligible Interactive Streams only from a monthly playlist consisting of a limited set of recordings).

Standalone Non-Portable Subscription Offering—Streaming Only means a Subscription Offering through which an End User can listen to sound recordings only in the form of Eligible Interactive Streams and only from a non-portable device to which those Eligible Interactive Streams are originally transmitted while the device has a live network connection.

Standalone Non-Portable Subscription Offering—Mixed means a Subscription Offering through which an End User can listen to sound recordings either in the form of Eligible Interactive Streams or Eligible Limited Downloads but only from a non-portable device to which those Eligible Interactive Streams or Eligible Limited Downloads are originally transmitted.

Standalone Portable Subscription Offering means a Subscription Offering through which an End User can listen to sound recordings in the form of Eligible Interactive Streams or Eligible Limited Downloads from a portable device.

Stream means the digital transmission of a sound recording of a musical work to an End User—

(1) To allow the End User to listen to the sound recording, while maintaining a live network connection to the transmitting service, substantially at the time of transmission, except to the extent that the sound recording remains accessible for future listening from a Streaming Cache Reproduction;

(2) Using technology that is designed such that the sound recording does not remain accessible for future listening, except to the extent that the sound recording remains accessible for future listening from a Streaming Cache Reproduction; and

(3) That is subject to licensing as a public performance of the musical work.

Streaming Cache Reproduction means a reproduction of a sound recording embodying a musical work made on a computer or other receiving device by a Service Provider solely for the purpose of permitting an End User who has previously received a Stream of that sound recording to play the sound recording again from local storage on the computer or other device rather than by means of a transmission; provided that the End User is only able to do so while maintaining a live network connection to the Service Provider, and the reproduction is encrypted or otherwise protected consistent with prevailing industry standards to prevent it from being played in any other manner or on any device other than the computer or other device on which it was originally made.

Student Plan means a discounted Subscription Offering available on a limited basis to students.

Subscription Offering means an Offering for which End Users are required to pay a fee to have access to the Offering for defined subscription periods of 3 years or less (in contrast to, for example, a service where the basic charge to users is a payment per download or per play), whether the End User makes payment for access to the Offering on a standalone basis or as part of a Bundle.

TCC means the total amount expensed by a Service Provider or any of its Affiliates in accordance with GAAP for rights to make Eligible Interactive Streams or Eligible Limited Downloads of a musical work embodied in a sound recording through the Service Provider for the Accounting Period, which amount shall equal the Applicable Consideration for those rights at the time the Applicable Consideration is properly recognized as an expense under GAAP. As used in this definition, “Applicable Consideration” means anything of value given for the identified rights to undertake the Licensed Activity, including, without limitation, ownership equity, monetary advances, barter or any other monetary and/or nonmonetary consideration, whether that consideration is conveyed via a single agreement, multiple agreements and/or agreements that do not themselves authorize the Licensed Activity but nevertheless provide consideration for the identified rights to undertake the Licensed Activity, and including any value given to an Affiliate of a Sound Recording Company for the rights to undertake the Licensed Activity. Value given to a Copyright Owner of musical works that is controlling, controlled by, or under common control with a Sound Recording Company for rights to undertake the Licensed Activity shall not be considered value given to the Sound Recording Company. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Applicable Consideration shall not include in-kind promotional consideration given to a Sound Recording Company (or Affiliate thereof) that is used to promote the sale or paid use of sound recordings embodying musical works or the paid use of music services through which sound recordings embodying musical works are available where the in-kind promotional consideration is given in connection with a use that qualifies for licensing under 17 U.S.C. 115.

User Manipulation means any behavior that artificially distorts the number of Plays, including, but not limited to, the use of manual (e.g., click farms) or automated (e.g., bots) means.

A Licensee shall pay a late fee of 1.5% per month, or the highest lawful rate, whichever is lower, for any payment owed to a Copyright Owner and remaining unpaid after the due date established in 17 U.S.C. 115(c)(2)(I) or 17 U.S.C. 115(d)(4)(A)(i), as applicable and detailed in part 210 of this title. Late fees shall accrue from the due date until the Copyright Owner receives payment, except that where payment is due to the mechanical licensing collective under 17 U.S.C. 115(d)(4)(A)(i), late fees shall accrue from the due date until the mechanical licensing collective receives payment.

[89 FR 19274, Mar. 18, 2024]

(a) Effect of Copyright Office recordkeeping regulations. Unless and until the Copyright Office promulgates superseding regulations concerning recordkeeping for promotional or free trial non-royalty-bearing uses subject to this part, the recordkeeping provisions in this section shall apply to Service Providers.

(b) General. A Service Provider transmitting a sound recording embodying a musical work subject to section 115 and subparts C and D of this part and claiming a Promotional Offering or Free Trial Offering zero royalty rate shall keep complete and accurate contemporaneous written records of making or authorizing Eligible Interactive Streams or Eligible Limited Downloads, including the sound recordings and musical works involved, the artists, the release dates of the sound recordings, a brief statement of the promotional activities authorized, the identity of the Offering or Offerings for which the zero-rate is authorized (including the internet address if applicable), and the beginning and end date of each zero rate Offering.

(c) Retention of records. A Service Provider claiming zero rates shall maintain the records required by this section for no less time than the Service Provider maintains records of royalty-bearing uses involving the same types of Offerings in the ordinary course of business, but in no event for fewer than five years from the conclusion of the zero rate Offerings to which they pertain.

(d) Availability of records. If the Mechanical Licensing Collective requests information concerning zero rate Offerings, the Service Provider shall respond to the request within an agreed, reasonable time.