The Music Modernization Act (MMA), a piece of U.S. music business legislation passed in October 2018, is an act that mandates regulations around royalties from online streaming services and funded a central database that will facilitate the matching of song recordings to rights holders so that songwriters and publishers can be paid mechanical royalties for the use of their works. One major component of the MMA was the creation of The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC), which was designated to collect and distribute mechanical royalty payments under Title I of the MMA.

As of January 1, 2021, songwriters and music publishers must register with The MLC using its online claiming portal to receive royalty payments under the new blanket license.

Please visit the Office’s MMA homepage for more information.

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