Today, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) introduced the Transparency in Music Licensing and Ownership Act, which would establish an information database for musical works and sound recordings that users and services could search and would make music licensing more efficient.
The following can be attributed to Raza Panjwani, Policy Counsel at Public Knowledge:
“The public benefits when music services can focus on delivering the best experience and the widest array of music, rather than on overcoming poor record-keeping by the music industry. The unreliability and incompleteness of music copyright ownership records are notorious, and the result is millions of dollars being wasted on lawsuits resulting from the lack of accurate information, rather than on compensating artists or improving the service.
“Public Knowledge appreciates Rep. Sensenbrenner's leadership on this issue, which marks a step forward in addressing this long-acknowledged problem. By asking the people best positioned to keep ownership and licensing information up to date — the copyright owners themselves — this bill has the potential to vastly improve the quality and quantity of ownership information currently available. This is the bare minimum we should ask of copyright owners in return for the powerful rights and remedies they’re given under the law.”