Both The New York Times and The Verge have the details about the settlement about mechanical licensing rights, which refer to a copyright holder’s control over the ability to reproduce a musical work. Spotify will pay over $20 million to music publishers to settle. The money will pay for royalties already owed but unpaid, and a $5 million penalty. In return, publishers will not file copyright infringement claims against Spotify
Spotify claimed there was no easy way to sort out which publishers had legitimate claims over songs, or even how to find the parties, because there was no database covering all music rights. According to the terms of the deal, participating publishers will use an online portal to register their claims over songs, and then receive their share of royalties owed as well as their portion of the bonus fund. Any unclaimed money would be divided.
