A bill was introduced in the US this week to close a longstanding gap in copyright law around sound - recordings made prior to 1972 , which currently fall outside of federal protection . It was not until 1971 that Congress put sound recordings under federal copyright protection, but they applied only to works made after Feb. 15, 1972. The Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs , Service and Important Contributions to Society Act ( CLASSICS ) would make the owners of the pre-1972 recordings eligible for royalties for digital broadcast . It would also ensure that artists are entitled to the same amount of royalties , regardless of whether a label and a digital music provider reach an agreement on payment . SoundExchange would distribute the royalties . The issue that digital radio stations do not have to pay royalties to artists and labels for airplay would not be addressed by the legislation .
A bill was introduced in the US this week to close a longstanding gap in copyright law around sound - recordings made prior to 1972 , which currently fall outside of federal protection . The Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs , Service and Important Contributions to Society Act ( CLASSICS ) would make the owners of the pre-1972 recordings eligible for royalties for digital broadcast . It would also ensure that artists are entitled to the same amount of royalties , regardless of whether a label and a digital music provider reach an agreement on payment . SoundExchange would distribute the royalties . The issue that digital radio stations do not have to pay royalties to artists and labels for airplay would not be addressed by the legislation .