Musicians launch copyright lobbying push during Grammys

Some of the music industry’s biggest names are singing out in a new lobbying push.

Alicia Keys, Maroon 5’s Adam Levine and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler are among the headline names using their star status to weigh in on copyright reform on Capitol Hill.

{mosads}The new Creators Alliance was announced during the annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night, and will provide a forum for musicians and songwriters to ask for updates to laws surrounding how they get paid when songs are played on the radio and over the Internet.

“Together, we will advise those who make policy in music and in government so that our next generation of creators are able to make tomorrow’s music as great as tonight’s,” Jennifer Hudson said onstage at the Grammys on Sunday evening.

The push is being coordinated by the Recording Academy, the group that puts on the Grammy Awards each year.  Lady Antebellum, deadmau5, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Dr. Luke, Jimmy Jam and Ryan Tedder were among the other founding musician members.

Lawmakers in the House have been working for months on a comprehensive review of the nation’s copyright laws, though it remains unclear how or whether that process will result in legislative changes.

The group is pushing for a comprehensive overhaul of the law to replace the “patchwork of laws” that it says don’t make sense in the 21st Century.

Among the changes that have long been eyed by some in the music business is an update, so musicians who recorded songs before 1972 can receive copyright royalties when they get played on satellite radio. Currently, those songs are not covered under federal law.

The group also appears to be looking at digital services like Spotify, from which megastar Taylor Swift removed all of her music late last year in an effort to encourage people to buy her albums. Critics of the site and other streaming services say it takes money out of musicians’ pockets.