Ferrick v. Spotify USA Inc.

Claiming works through the MLC Portal instead of the Future Royalty Payments Program Website offers class members significant advantages, including the following:

• The MLC Portal permits class members to obtain mechanical royalties from all digital music providers, including Spotify;
• Class members who do not claim their works through the MLC Portal cannot count on being paid by the MLC for usage on Spotify from January 1, 2021 onwards;
• Class members who do not claim their works through the MLC Portal may be missing an opportunity to collect royalties for streaming by all providers;
• Under the Music Modernization Act, royalties for usage on Spotify that occurs after January 1, 2021, must be claimed from the MLC Portal;
• The MLC Portal permits class members to obtain both ongoing royalties and royalties dating back to when the MLC last redistributed royalties for unmatched works to other copyright owners (which is not expected to occur until 2024 or later);
• Class members who use the MLC Portal to claim their works do not need to submit a Spotify-only claim through the Future Royalty Payments Program Website; and
• Spotify will assist class members who have claimed works not subject to a dispute using the MLC Portal but have been unable to receive royalties (click here to contact a special liaison provided by Spotify).

If, despite the significant advantages of claiming works through the MLC Portal, you still would like to claim works through the Spotify-only Future Royalty Payments Program Website, further information on the Future Royalty Payments Program Website is set out below.

Please Note: If you submitted a valid claim for your works through the Future Royalty Payments Program Website on or before December 31, 2020, your information concerning works not subject to a dispute has been provided to the MLC. If you submitted your works through the Future Royalty Payments Program Website on January 1, 2021 or later, then your information has not been provided to the MLC.

Welcome to the Future Royalty Payments Program Website of the Ferrick, et al. v. Spotify USA Inc., et al. class action settlement!

Per the terms of the Settlement Agreement, the Future Royalty Payments Program Website became operational on March 25, 2020. The online Royalty Claim Form is available here. Paper Royalty Claim Forms are also available for download here.

Please note that if you previously submitted a timely Valid Claim Form for payment from the Settlement Fund, you will automatically be enrolled in the Future Royalty Payments Program with respect to the tracks you validly claimed that embody your Claimed Musical Works. If so, you do not need to submit a Royalty Claim Form to receive mechanical royalties for those tracks. However, you may submit a Royalty Claim Form if you wish to identify additional tracks embodying your musical works in order to receive mechanical royalties for those tracks. In addition, Settlement Class Members who did not submit a Valid Claim Form for payment from the Settlement Fund are eligible to participate in the Future Royalty Payments Program.

If you own a copyright registered with the U.S. Copyright Office (or for which an application for registration has been filed) for a musical composition that Spotify USA Inc. (“Spotify”) made available for interactive streaming and/or limited downloading between December 28, 2012 and June 29, 2017, and you contend that Spotify did so without a license, you may file an electronic claim to ongoing mechanical royalties on this site. Please begin your claim by clicking the Start Your Future Royalty Payments Program Claim button below.

You can find more information about how to file a royalty claim here.

You can also print and mail in a paper Royalty Claim Form. You can find it here.