Kanye West, Kid Rock To Join Trump Today For Music Modernization Act Signing
President Trump is expected to sign the Music Modernization Act at 11:45 ET today, Thursday October 11th. Kanye West, who has been confirmed for lunch at The White House today, will be joined by Kid Rock for the signing, according to multiple sources.
Recording Academy President and CEO Neil Portnow and Recording Industry Association of America President Mitch Glazier, along with other music industry leaders are expected to attend.
Trump told reporters Tuesday that West would bring Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown with him to lunch. Presidential advisor and son in law, Jared Kushner is also expected to attend.
Passed unanimously by both houses of Congress, The Music Modernization Act is a multifaceted bill that brings sweeping change to music licencing and how creators are compensated. Attorney Wallace Collins from Entertainment Industry Law Issues offers this summary:
The MMA revamps Section 115 and repeals Section 114(i) of the U.S. Copyright Act. It creates a public database to facilitate and expedite payments to songwriters and it overhauls the rate Court system and upgrades the standard for setting rates to a "free market" standard. The MMA also incorporates several other major pieces of legislation including the CLASSICS Act (Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs, Service, & Important Contributions to Society Act) which grants copyright protection to pre-1972 sound recordings so songwriters and artists can receive royalties on pre-1972 recordings and the AMP Act (Allocation for Music Producers Act), which improves royalty payouts for producers and engineers from SoundExchange when their recordings are used on satellite and online radio. Notably, this is the first time producers have ever been mentioned in copyright law.
