What is the Transparency in Music Licensing and Ownership Act?

The Transparency in Music Licensing Act — otherwise known as the Database Bill, or H.R. 3350 — is a key piece of legislation that would create, for the first time, a public database that provides all stakeholders in the music marketplace with access to authoritative and fully searchable records of music ownership and licensing information, free-of-charge to users and updated in real time.

The legislation was introduced by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and originally cosponsored by Reps. Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Blake Farenthold (R-TX), and Steve Chabot (R-OH) to make our music licensing system more open and accessible to those who own and those who license music. Since the bill’s introduction, twelve other members have joined Rep. Sensenbrenner in support of this bipartisan legislation — with cosponsors now totaling 15.

Notably, the establishment of such a database was a core component of recommendations included in the House Judiciary Committee’s December 2016 White Paper containing proposed reforms to the U.S. Copyright Office — the natural home for public records of copyright information.

All stakeholders in the music marketplace benefit when current and accurate information about copyright ownership and licensing is easily accessible. It’s amazing that despite the explosive growth in access to information online, no comprehensive and actionable database of music copyright ownership and licensing exists today. Instead, there are a small number of proprietary databases that cover only some copyrighted works, like those maintained by the performing rights organizations (PROs) that license song performances.

Those databases are not comprehensive nor are they interoperable. They explicitly state that users cannot rely on the information to make licensing decisions. As a result, businesses that offer music have no ability to make rational decisions about which licenses best fit their music needs.

That’s important; without such a database in place today, venues and businesses that want to offer music currently have to contend with a handful of incomplete, inefficient, and wholly unhelpful proprietary databases from the PROs. Not only is this process overly complicated and confusing, it also opens up well-meaning business owners to expensive copyright infringement lawsuits.

Without the tools to make rational choices about which licenses fit their music needs, many venues are declining to host live music altogether. This hurts venues and the communities they serve, creates challenges for local broadcasters and digital music services which rely on accurate copyright information to provide music for their customers, and limits revenue opportunities for artists and songwriters alike.

The Transparency in Music Licensing Act, if passed, would change all of that by providing much-needed information needed to select and purchase the right music licenses. It is a key step to promoting a vibrant music economy and experience, and a fairer music marketplace for everyone.