Meredith Filak Rose has published "The New Music Modernization Act (Mostly) (Finally) Gets It Right" in the Public Knowledge Blog.
Here's an excerpt:
The new Music Modernization Act sweeps away this old system and replaces it with full federal protection. The terms are still much longer than ideal: the earliest recordings won't hit the public domain until January 2022, while many others will be locked away for a total of 110 years. But the bill also creates, for the first time, a true public domain in sound recordings. . . .
The other important function of the bill is that, for the first time, users will now have a process by which they can use sound recordings, even when the rights holder cannot be found. Anyone wishing to make a noncommercial use of a recording that is no longer commercially available can submit a notice of use at the U.S. Copyright Office.
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