Washington, D.C.’s James Madison Memorial Building, which houses the U.S. Copyright Office. Photo Credit: UpstateNYer
Two weeks later, the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has officially made the proposed Phonorecords V “Subpart B” settlement available for comment, and the opposing parties now have until August 10th to weigh in.
The CRB quietly kicked off Phono V’s settlement-comment period this past Friday, after June’s end brought a proposed Subpart B agreement between the major labels, the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), the Nashville Songwriters Association International, and the Music Artists Coalition.
As we exclusively broke down then, the entities moved to leave Phono IV’s physical and permanent download statutory rates in place “except for continuing inflation adjustments.” And with Phono V set to run from 2028 through 2032, it didn’t come as much of a surprise when the proposed settlement elicited criticism out of the gate.
To be sure, the Songwriters Guild of America, Word Collections, Eight Mile Style, and copyright-reform activist George Johnson opted against joining the proposed settlement and are instead preparing to file an objection seeking a noticeably larger rate hike as opposed to a modest inflation-based bump each year.
Now, as mentioned, they have until Monday, August 10th to move forward with their opposition argument. “Comments and objections, if any, are due no later than August 10, 2026,” Chief Copyright Royalty Judge Trevor Jefferson wrote in a Federal Register notice.
With that, all eyes are on the appropriate docket, which hasn’t yet added the relevant opposition filing (or other comments). On the latter front, non-participants who’ll be bound by Phono V rates can technically comment if so inclined; only the above-noted participants can both comment on and object to the proposed settlement’s adoption.
This leads to another interesting component of the Phono V showdown: The withdrawal of Irving Azoff’s Global Music Rights (GMR) from the rate-setting proceedings. Last week, DMN exclusively took an in-depth look at the reason – or reasons; there isn’t a consensus – behind the exit.
Separately, though the development flew under the radar, the CRB itself earlier in 2026 dismissed an individual named David Powell from the proceedings. Ultimately, the judges determined that Powell had “failed to articulate a statement of significant interest,” including in a “largely incomprehensible” follow-up filing.
Put differently, there are more than a few angles to Phonorecords V, and we’ll continue tracking the process – with a near-term emphasis on the forthcoming opposition – from here.