Copyright gives creators a monopoly over their own works; rightsholders licensing their works individually have the right to charge whatever they choose, and would not be subject to any restriction on their licensing practices or prices. There is no legal or regulatory restriction on the right of any individual composer to operate in this manner today. Composers and music publishers have chosen, however, to organize themselves into Performing Rights Organizations or “PROs.” The PROs (ASCAP, BMI and SESAC) offer “blanket” licenses that convey to broadcasters and other users the right of public performance to the works of thousands of individual composers at a single price. We would not allow wheat farmers or law firms to band together and offer access to their products only on a package basis at a fixed price, because we expect that if they did so they would insist on higher prices than each could get on their own.
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