Songwriters earn royalty income in two ways:
A. The right to publicly perform their music works, and
B. The right to make and distribute reproductions of those works.
But, the laws are outdated for this new digital world and, of course, a "few" are taking advantage and using the laws to not pay music creators fairly and in some cases, not at all.
As a result, Congressman Collins has introduced the Songwriter Equity Act (SEA), H.R. 4079, that will allow a "rate court" to consider other royalty rates as evidence when establishing digital performance rates for songwriters and composers, and it would adapt a fair rate standard for reproduction (mechanical licenses). The companion Bill, S. 2321, was recently introduced in the Senate by Senator Alexander (R-TN).