Music Licensing Bill Moves Ahead to Full Senate (1)

The Department of Justice will have to report to the Senate before eliminating certain court-supervised antitrust rules guiding the music business, under legislation approved by a Senate committee.

The Senate Judiciary Committee amended and approved a music copyright bill, the Music Modernization Act (S. 2823), by unanimous voice vote June 28, sending it to the full Senate for a floor vote. The measure seeks to improve the relationship between music copyright holders and music streaming services.

The changes, adopted in a manager’s amendment, place hurdles before Department of Justice efforts to reduce antitrust limits on music royalty organizations.

Makan Delrahim, ...