Later this month, CSI will launch a new Claims Website that will provide music rightsholders the ability to review the list of musical works for which royalties have been paid into a newly established trust account (“Licensing Trust”) managed by CSI and created pursuant to the 2010 settlement of a Canadian class action lawsuit dealing with unpaid mechanical royalties by the major labels.
CSI’s Claims Website will contain song and recording details related to unidentified, unlicensed or otherwise unpaid ownership shares for products released in Canada from January 1, 2013 onward by the three major record companies (Sony Music Entertainment Canada, Universal Music Canada, and Warner Music Canada). The Claims Website is a function of the new licensing system that was established as part of the settlement of the class action pursuant to which the major labels are now required to make regular payments of undistributed royalties to the Licensing Trust.
The new Claims Website will be rolled out in two phases to align with the project’s development schedule. The initial phase, which is currently available in beta mode, will offer rightsholders the ability to review the available track and song details of the royalties that have been paid in the Licensing Trust. The second phase, which is scheduled for the spring, will provide rightsholders the ability to submit claims online, through a secure portal, as well as the ability to track each claim’s status and history.
The data sets that will be available for review upon the initial launch of the website will relate to the 3Q2013 through 2Q2014 royalties paid into the Licensing Trust by Universal Music Canada and Sony Music Entertainment Canada only. Further data sets will be added to the site once the associated royalty files have been successfully validated and processed by CSI.
