Opinion: Co-founder of the Supremes: fix copyright law quirk

[Wilhelm]

With 12 No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, the group that I co-founded and was a member of – the Supremes – is among the most successful American groups of all time. At our peak, we rivaled the bands of the British invasion in popularity. Our legacy goes beyond the countless songs, musicals and films we inspired. Our success and that of all Motown artists helped pave the way for countless African-American R&B and soul musicians to realize mainstream success of their own.

And yet, all of our No. 1 hits, including “Stop! In the Name of Love,” “You Can’t Hurry Love,” and “Come See About Me,” are not compensated in the same way as songs we recorded after one arbitrary date – Feb. 15, 1972. This is due to an anomaly in federal copyright law that does not cover songs recorded before that date, something even the Library of Congress can’t explain.

Nearly every music service in the United States has discovered that this anomaly in federal law allows them to forgo paying for pre-1972 music, so they don’t. That means there is no compensation for most music made before 1972 when it is played on digital radio, satellite radio and terrestrial AM/FM radio, the latter of which doesn’t pay music creators anything, regardless of when recordings were made.

Because of this quirk in the law, the artists behind some of America’s most legendary recordings have been forced to chase large, profitable music services across multiple state courts in lengthy and expensive litigation to pursue basic compensation for their valuable catalogs. How is that fair?

Fortunately, we are on the verge of righting this historic wrong by changing the law and giving pre-1972 artists the same treatment that U.S. copyright law gives artists who recorded their songs after Feb. 15, 1972. Through a unanimous vote in the House of Representatives, Republicans and Democrats worked together to bring U.S. music licensing into the 21st century and deliver justice for legacy music creators. The legislation, encompassed in the Music Modernization Act (S. 2823), is now making its way through the Senate. If it passes, it would close the pre-1972 loophole in U.S. copyright law and guarantee compensation to artists, regardless of the year their music was recorded.

While I was born in Mississippi, the Supremes recorded most of our iconic hits in Detroit and Los Angeles, and I’ve called California home for many years. That’s why I urge U.S. Sen.Dianne Feinstein to join with Sen. Kamala Harris in standing with the many music creators who also call California home by cosponsoring and working to pass the Music Modernization Act.

My music career has been a source of tremendous pride and enjoyment. It never really felt like a job. I’m one of the lucky ones. People still buy tickets to see me perform. However, many music creators who made music before 1972 aren’t so blessed. Many pre-1972 music creators, or their estates for those that have passed on, survive on fixed incomes and are being shut out of a core American value of being paid for one’s work.

The Music Modernization Act is bipartisan and is supported by artists, songwriters, producers, tech companies and other music stakeholders, including streaming services like Pandora. It is time for the U.S. Senate to pass the Music Modernization Act and extend rightful compensation to all musicians, regardless of when they created their music. It’s only fair, and long overdue.

Mary Wilson is co-founder of the Supremes, whose No. 1 hits included “Stop! In the Name of Love,” “You Can’t Hurry Love,” and “Come See About Me.”