Making sense of the New Blanket Mechanical License and the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC)
Presented in partnership with Austin Texas Musicians and Austin Music Foundation.
During this webinar, we will explore what the new blanket license and the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) means for self-administered songwriters and independent music publishers.
Topics will include: the purpose and functionality of the MLC, and how to ensure your songwriter and publisher data is delivered to the MLC as swiftly as possible so you can collect your earned mechanical royalties from streaming and downloads.
Please take the MLC Awareness Survey here.
About the speakers:
Chris Castle founded his firm in Los Angeles in 2005 and moved the firm to Austin in 2011. He works on a variety of transactional matters in the nexus of music, technology and policy. (See “What We Do”). His most recent U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief in Google v Oracle is available here and op-ed on the case is available here. His most recent Copyright Office comment on the Unclaimed Royalties Study is available here and his most recent law journal article “Defiance or Collaboration: The Role of the Presidential Signing Statement in MLC Board Appointments” is here.
Prior to founding the firm, Chris was SVP and General Counsel to SNOCAP in San Francisco, of counsel to Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto and Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp in Los Angeles, SVP Business Affairs at Sony Music in New York, and VP Business Affairs at A&M Records in Hollywood. Chris is an MBA graduate of the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management and a JD graduate of the UCLA School of Law where he was a member of the UCLA Law Review and an Olin Fellow in Law and Economics. He was an adjunct professor at the University of Texas School of Law where he taught The Music Business in the Digital Millennium. Before law school, Chris graduated with high honors from UCLA, majoring in political theory. He is admitted to the bar in California and Texas.
Abby North is principal of North Music Group LLC and a founder of Unchained Melody Publishing LLC. Abby began her music career as a songwriter and composer, and launched her first production music library 15 years ago. Abby has experience in all areas of music publishing, from creative to administrative. She has vast experience in works registration, a strong knowledge of music publishing data and databases, and a background developing royalty processing and Common Works Registration (CWR) software tools.
Abby regularly advises estates on catalog management, termination rights and strategic growth concepts. Abby is involved in several tech-forward, cutting-edge working groups and initiatives in the music licensing and metadata areas. She consults and advises companies in the financial sector and music industries regarding these issues. Abby is a board member of the Los Angeles Chapter of the AIMP and of IAFAR US, and a member of NMPA’s Team 100, the Television Academy, ISNI Music Sector Consultation Group, CISAC’s CWR Working Group, Women in Music, SONA, the SCL and MMF-US (Music Managers Forum-US).
Gwendolyn Seale is a 2016 graduate of SMU Dedman School of Law and practices entertainment law at Mike Tolleson and Associates in Austin, Texas. While at SMU, she interned at two music venues in the Dallas Deep Ellum district, Trees and The Bomb Factory, with responsibilities that included assisting with social media accounts, merchandise sales and reviewing performance contracts. During her final year of law school, she also managed a band based in Austin. Currently, at Mike Tolleson and Associates, she drafts and negotiates contracts related to music, film and sports entertainment, and assists clients with their copyright and trademark registration needs. In addition to her practice, Gwen has published articles and presented Continuing Legal Education Courses on topics such as YouTube’s monetization policies, legal issues surrounding music festivals and the evidentiary significance of emojis.
About Austin Texas Musicians: The Austin Texas Musicians Facebook Group was originated in 2008 by Nakia Reynoso in 2008. With over 4,300 current members, this group has become the defacto channel through which the largest amount of Austin musicians are able to share information and collaborate. The group is open to all musicians that live within a 20 mile radius of the city and perform.
In 2019, after a number of community discussions, Nakia saw a growing need to organize Austin musicians and secure representation within Austin’s larger political landscape. A dedicated ATM workgroup was created, and a partnership was formed with Music Makes Austin, a family of nonprofit organizations all directly dedicated to helping enhance commercial music in our city. Austin Texas Musicians is a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization, and we are pleased to serve the music community that we call home!
About Austin Music Foundation: Austin Music Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit arts organization whose core mission is to strengthen, connect, and advance the local music industry and community through educational programming, professional development, and focused mentoring.
This program will be offered online. A link to access the webinar will be posted on the event page in Eventbrite. After registering, sign into your Eventbrite account to access the link to the webinar. You will also receive email reminders from Eventbrite closer to the event date.
This event is funded in part by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit arts.gov.
This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department.