Compulsory Mechanical Licensing Law

Compulsory licensing laws allow someone to use a copyrighted song without direct permission of the copyright owner, provided certain conditions are met. This often applies to cover songs, where you can record and distribute a song as long as you pay the required royalties.

However, if you change the lyrics or significantly rearrange the lyrics or significantly rearrange the melody, you may be stepping outside the boundaries of compulsory licensing, which could lead to potential legal issues. It is important to ensure that any modifications still respect the original work and comply with copyright laws.

Section 115 of the Copyright Act provides a compulsory license to make and distribute phono records, subject to certain terms and conditions of use.

“Once phono records of a musical work have been publicly distributed in the United States with the copyright owners consent, anyone else may, under certain circumstances and subject to limited conditions, obtain a compulsory license to make and distribute phono records of the work without express permission from the copyright owner.”

US Copyright Office Circular 73 – Compulsory License for Making and Distributing Phonorecords