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songwriter writing

Resources for lawyers

*The materials on this page and included within our Lawyer Toolkit were prepared by our Educational Partnerships team and are provided to assist members of the legal and music publishing community in finding answers to their most common questions regarding The MLC. The purpose of these materials is to provide general information about The MLC and is not intended to provide legal advice, and nothing contained within the materials should be construed as legal advice.

Lawyer Toolkit

We have created a package of information for lawyers who advise musical works rightsholders (such as music publishers, songwriters, composers, and lyricists). The toolkit features a PDF document that explains the roles and responsibilities related to mechanical licensing and royalties, becoming a Member of The MLC, The MLC’s royalty distributions timeline, catalog transfers, The MLC’s Member tools, and other topics. Click here to download the Lawyer Toolkit (Version 4).

Helpful Links

The following areas of our website are mentioned in the toolkit. Links are provided below to make it even easier to find these pages:

Becoming a Member of The MLC

Ex-U.S. CMOs that are Members of The MLC

The MLC’s Member Tools

Missing Member Lookup

Blanket Royalties

Historical Unmatched Royalties

The Copyright Royalty Board

Rates

Digital Royalties Landscape diagram

Catalog Transfers

Policies (Ownership Disputes, Statutory Terminations)

DSP Notices

DSP Resources

Contact our Support Team

Explainer Videos

We have created short explainer videos, and longer deep-dive videos, to help you and your clients learn more about The MLC and how to collect digital mechanical royalties. The list below are just a few of the most popular ones. Visit The MLC’s YouTube channel for many more.

About The MLC in 60 seconds (animated)

Four Ways to Get Paid Your Streaming Royalties (animated)

Playlist of videos for Independent Songwriters

Playlist of videos for Publishers, Administrators, and CMOs

Man sitting on couch writing song with guitar next to him

Stay Up
To Date

News & Press Releases

See More
Press Release

The United States Register of Copyrights Continues the Designation of The MLC as the Statutory Mechanical Licensing Collective Following First Periodic Review

June 3, 2026
Press Release

The MLC Launches Music Registration 101 Micro-Course Covering Copyright, Music Registration, and Royalties

May 4, 2026
Press Release

The MLC Seeking Suggestions for Songwriter Candidates for Board of Directors and Advisory Committees

April 23, 2026
Press Release

The MLC Seeking Suggestions for Board of Directors and Advisory Committee Candidates

April 2, 2026
Press Release

The MLC Announces Advisory Committee Updates

January 29, 2026
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