# Mechanical Licensing Collective Also known as: The MLC, MLC > The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) is a nonprofit organization, designated by the U.S. Copyright Office under the Music Modernization Act of 2018, that administers the blanket mechanical license for digital audio services in the United States. Since January 2021 it has collected mechanical royalties from streaming and download services and paid them to music publishers and self-administered songwriters. Source: https://wiki.snvrkotics.com/mechanical-licensing-collective · Category: Royalties and collection · Last reviewed: 2026-10-02 · License: CC BY 4.0 ## Key facts - **Type:** Nonprofit - **Created under:** [Music Modernization Act (2018)](https://wiki.snvrkotics.com/music-modernization-act) - **Designated by:** [U.S. Copyright Office](https://www.copyright.gov/rulemaking/mma-designations/) - **Blanket license available:** January 1, 2021 - **Headquarters:** Nashville, Tennessee - **Website:** [themlc.com](https://www.themlc.com/) ## Role Before 2021, a streaming service in the United States had to obtain a [mechanical license](https://wiki.snvrkotics.com/mechanical-license) work by work, and large amounts of royalties went unmatched. Title I of the [Music Modernization Act](https://wiki.snvrkotics.com/music-modernization-act) replaced that with a single **blanket license** available to any eligible digital service, and created a collective to administer it.[1] The Copyright Office designated The MLC as that collective.[2] ## What it does Digital services send The MLC monthly usage reports and pay the mechanical royalties due. The MLC matches each reported [recording](https://wiki.snvrkotics.com/isrc) to the [musical work](https://wiki.snvrkotics.com/iswc) it embodies, looks up the registered owners and their shares, and pays them. It maintains a public database of works and ownership, and its operating costs are funded by the digital services rather than deducted from songwriters' royalties.[3] ## Unmatched royalties Royalties that cannot be matched to an owner are held while the collective tries to identify them. Under the statute, money that remains unclaimed after the holding period can be distributed to copyright owners in proportion to market share, which is why songwriters and publishers are urged to register their works and claim their shares.[1] ## What it does not cover The MLC handles **mechanical** royalties for **digital** uses in the **United States** only. It does not collect performance royalties, which go through [performing rights organizations](https://wiki.snvrkotics.com/performing-rights-organization), nor anything for the master recording, nor mechanicals from other countries. ## Questions ### Should independent songwriters register with The MLC? A self-administered songwriter — one without a publisher or administrator — needs to register with The MLC directly to receive US streaming mechanical royalties. Writers with a publisher are registered through it. ### Does The MLC charge songwriters a fee? Its administrative costs are paid by the digital services through an assessment, not deducted from the royalties it distributes. ### Is The MLC the same as a PRO? No. The MLC collects mechanical royalties for US digital uses; PROs collect performance royalties. A US stream generates both. ## References 1. U.S. Copyright Office. "The Music Modernization Act." https://www.copyright.gov/music-modernization/ 2. U.S. Copyright Office. "Designation of Mechanical Licensing Collective and Digital Licensee Coordinator." https://www.copyright.gov/rulemaking/mma-designations/ 3. The MLC. "The Mechanical Licensing Collective." https://www.themlc.com/ ## Related - [Mechanical license](https://wiki.snvrkotics.com/mechanical-license): A mechanical license permits the reproduction and distribution of a composition in recordings — physical copies, downloads and interactive streams. - [Music Modernization Act](https://wiki.snvrkotics.com/music-modernization-act): The Music Modernization Act is the 2018 US law that created the blanket mechanical license, The MLC, and protections for pre-1972 recordings. - [Music publishing](https://wiki.snvrkotics.com/music-publishing): Music publishing is the business of owning or administering song copyrights: registering works, licensing them and collecting songwriters' royalties. - [Performing rights organization](https://wiki.snvrkotics.com/performing-rights-organization): A performing rights organization licenses the public performance of songs and pays the royalties to their songwriters and publishers. --- Cite as: "Mechanical Licensing Collective." SNVRKOTICS Wiki, 2026-10-02. https://wiki.snvrkotics.com/mechanical-licensing-collective