Legislative History

In November 1967, over lunch at Ireland's Restaurant in Nashville, Eddie Miller (a 1975 inductee into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and founding member of the Academy of Country Music in Hollywood) encouraged fellow songwriters Buddy Mize and Bill Brock to begin an association for writers in Nashville. Mize and Brock loved the idea, and all three set out to make it happen.

Within a month, Eddie, Buddy and Bill were conducting the group's first organizational meeting at the Old Professional's Club on Music Row. The meeting attracted some 40 songwriters, including Liz and Casey Anderson ("The Fugitive"), Felice and Boudleaux Bryant ("Wake Up Little Susie"), Kris Kristofferson ("Me And Bobby McGee") and Marijohn Wilkin ("One Day At A Time"). These 40 became the founding membership of NSAI and began spending countless hours around Marijohn's kitchen table brainstorming, discussing and refining ideas.

NSAI protested CMT’s decision to remove songwriter credits from broadcast videos and persuaded the company to reinstate them in 2001.

In September of 2003, NSAI coordinated a massive lobbying trip to Washington, in which songwriters met with over 50 members of Congress to tell the songwriter's story and to announce the creation of a Songwriter's Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. We since have started a Songwriter’s Caucus in the U.S. Senate. This means a solid team of allies for any legislation supporting songwriters’ rights.

 In May 2006, the “Songwriters Capital Gains Tax Equity Act” was signed into law. This legislation was envisioned by NSAI to benefit American songwriters who sell a song catalogue. Previously, when a songwriter sold a “catalogue” they paid ordinary income taxes AND self-employment taxes that could amount to more than 40% of their income from the sale. Now they are eligible for the prevailing flat “Capital Gains” business tax rate.

The legislation applies only when a songwriter sells the royalty stream on a group of songs (song catalogue), and does not apply to ordinary royalty income.

This landmark legislation was a matter of fairness for the American songwriting profession. Decades ago, the tax category in which songwriters pay taxes was changed and they should have become immediately eligible for this tax treatment. Through an oversight, the language in the U.S. Tax Code that would have permitted the appropriate tax rate never evolved.

In December 2006, the “Songwriters Capital Gains Tax Equity Act” was made a permanent part of the tax code.

In 2008, NSAI was invited to testify in Washington, D.C., before the Copyright Royalty Board as they considered updates to copyright law for the digital age. Then-NSAI President Steve Bogard was a witness.

NSAI worked with like-minded organizations ASCAP, BMI, CMPA, NMPA and SESAC to introduce the Songwriter Equity Act (H.R. 4079, S. 2321). The bill seeks to modernize the rules governing the way both mechanical and performance royalty rates are set. NSAI President, Lee Thomas Miller, testified before the House Judiciary Committee in June 2014 to advocate for the bill and other songwriter issues.

The Orrin G. Hatch Music Modernization Act (MMA), legislation designed to improve streaming royalty rates for American songwriters was passed unanimously by both houses and signed into law!

The bill:

• Changes the standard by which songwriter streaming rates are established replacing an outdated 1909 law that governs songwriter mechanical or sales royalties, changes consent decree regulations from 1941 that govern  songwriter performance royalties. 
• Creates a new Music Licensing Collective governed by songwriters and music publishers to oversee and administer digital mechanical licensing and payments, resolve disputes and administer unclaimed royalties.
• Eliminates the disastrous Notice of Intent (NOI) program administered by the U.S. Copyright Office that allows digital streaming companies to put the licensing burden back on songwriters.
• Guarantees streaming royalty payments to artists whose recordings were done before 1972 who now are not required to be paid due to a loophole in the Copyright Act.
• Pays streaming royalties directly to musicians and background singers who perform on recordings instead of going through other parties first.
• Requires the random selection of judges when performing rights societies ASCAP or BMI go to a rate court proceeding.  Presently those judges are appointed for life.

As a direct result of the Orrin G. Hatch Music Modernization Act (MMA), In January 2021, an organization, The Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) began administering blanket mechanical licenses to eligible streaming and download services (digital service providers or DSPs) in the United States. The MLC will then collect the royalties due under those licenses from the DSPs and pay songwriters, composers, lyricists, and music publishers. 

The MLC has built a publicly accessible musical works database, as well as a portal that creators and music publishers can use to submit and maintain their musical works data. These tools will help ensure that creators and music publishers are paid properly. 

The MLC will strive to ensure songwriters, composers, lyricists, and music publishers receive their mechanical royalties from streaming and download services in the U.S. accurately and on time.