This February 2026 edition covers what changed in January.
January was mostly about records, deadlines, and registration systems. None of that makes a song easier to write, but it determines whether a placement can clear, whether related uses are paid, and whether an awards opportunity is still open when somebody starts talking about it.
What changed
Millions of copyright records just became easier to search before you clear a song
On January 22, the Copyright Office released an updated bulk dataset covering copyright registrations and recordations from January 1, 1978 through June 27, 2025, increasing the collection from roughly 20 million to roughly 22 million records (Copyright Office NewsNet). The files are public research data, not a substitute for the Office’s certified records or registration services.
What it means if you are trying to get placed. Use the expanded data as a due-diligence aid when a clearance question is larger than one title search. A buyer may need to understand whether a publisher name changed, whether an assignment was recorded, or whether a similar title belongs to a different work. The Copyright Office release gives researchers a larger machine-readable starting point for those checks. For your own catalogue, compare the public record with the legal names, titles, and ownership chain in your delivery file, then correct inconsistencies through the proper Office process rather than editing only your spreadsheet. Keep limits in mind. A missing row does not prove a work is unprotected, a registration record does not prove that every current ownership fact is complete, and bulk data does not replace a certified search or legal advice in a dispute. This will not win a placement by itself. It can shorten the diligence that follows interest and expose a chain-of-title problem before a buyer does. Use it to prepare evidence, not to make absolute ownership claims about somebody else’s work.
The rates behind internet-radio royalties were still up for debate
On January 16 and again on January 22, the Copyright Royalty Judges announced supplemental closing arguments in Web VI for February 13 because the original arguments took place before interim Chief Judge Trevor Jefferson was appointed (Copyright Royalty Board). Web VI concerns rates and terms for digital performances of sound recordings and the ephemeral copies needed to make those transmissions.
What it means if you are trying to get placed. Nothing about the January notices changes a rate yet. They show that the contested process remains active after the 2026 rate period has begun, which is a reason to keep contract language tied to the rate finally determined or adjusted by the CRB for the applicable service and period. Avoid a fixed cents figure or an undefined reference to “the current rate” when the proceeding itself is not finished. Keep the income stream separate from the placement fee: Web VI governs statutory sound-recording income from eligible non-interactive services, not the synchronization licence and not the songwriter performance royalty. Make sure the master is registered with SoundExchange under the correct ISRC, featured artist, and rights owner so a later report can match. If you want to follow the rate setting directly, the announced hearing is public and scheduled for February 13. The useful January action is to watch the proceeding, clean the recording data, and refuse contract wording that assumes an unsettled number is permanent.
Filmmakers were taught what they must clear before using your music
On January 8, the Copyright Office announced a February 4 webinar called “Lights, Camera, Action: Copyright Essentials for Filmmakers,” aimed at producers, directors, and screenwriters and covering copyright, registration, and Office services (Copyright Office NewsNet). The Office said complete Copyright Essentials recordings would be made available through its event materials.
What it means if you are trying to get placed. Read this from the buyer’s side. When producers receive basic copyright training from the federal office, they are being taught to ask who owns the work, whether it is registered, and whether the person offering it can grant the necessary rights. Your delivery should answer those questions before a clearance coordinator has to chase you. Keep a one-page record for every track with the exact delivered title, all writers and shares, publisher or administrator for each share, PRO affiliations, IPI or CAE numbers, the master owner, and the ISRC and ISWC where assigned. Add signed split sheets and any session-player, sample, or interpolation permissions needed to explain chain of title. Be able to state plainly whether you control the master, the composition, both, or only a defined share. Registration records should match the names and percentages in your delivery file; inconsistency is more likely to slow a clearance than the absence of a polished pitch deck. The webinar did not prescribe a licence form or a fee. Its value is simpler: it shows the baseline questions buyers are being encouraged to ask. Build your file so the answers are ready.
More TV themes can qualify for Emmys, and AI use may need an answer
The Television Academy’s January 9 rules changes made main-on-end themes eligible for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music, required a theme to appear in at least 50% of eligible submitted episodes for the 2026 competition, and allowed reality programs with original dramatic score into the nonfiction or reality music-composition category (Television Academy). The rules also said the Academy could inquire about AI use while keeping recognition centered on human storytelling (Television Academy rules announcement).
What it means if you are trying to get placed. Main-on-end is now a distinct writing target, not an afterthought attached to the crawl. If television themes fit your work, practice delivering a compact identity cue that can function after the final act as well as at the start of a program. The 50% threshold should shape expectations: a one-episode use may be an excellent placement, but it does not become a qualifying main-title theme merely because it is memorable. If you are discussing a theme commission, ask whether the plan is one episode, a recurring run, or at least half of the eligible submitted episodes, and make sure the licence and cue-sheet durations reflect the actual use. Reality scoring also deserves a fresh look; original dramatic score in that format is now explicitly within the category’s reach. Finally, build an AI provenance folder for every cue you deliver. Keep dated sessions, stems, original takes, and a short record of any generative tool and exactly what it contributed. The Academy did not ban AI and did not announce a disclosure form. It reserved the right to ask. Your advantage is being able to give a precise answer quickly if a production must respond.
The Oscar calendar closes months before the nominations make news
The 98th Oscars nominations were announced January 22, while the Academy’s published calendar shows that Original Song submissions had closed October 15, 2025 and Original Score submissions had closed November 3, 2025 (Academy press release; Academy key dates). The fetched Academy pages confirmed the schedule but did not provide a usable primary-source list of the Original Song nominees.
What it means if you are trying to get placed. The practical date is the submission deadline, not nominations morning. If a film plans to release in a cycle that could make an original song eligible, work backward from mid-October and get responsibility in writing: who submits, who supplies the credits, and when the production needs your final materials. Confirm the songwriter names exactly as they should appear before the submission goes in, including punctuation and legal-name choices, because award databases depend on the documentation supplied by the production. Keep the category distinction honest. A pre-existing song licensed from your catalogue can be a meaningful sync placement, but it is not the same thing as a song written specifically for and used in the film. Do not let loose campaign language turn one into the other. If a production says it intends to submit, ask for the applicable rules and the responsible contact rather than treating the statement as an outcome. The nominee names are deliberately not repeated here because the fetched Academy material did not confirm them. What the primary pages do establish is the calendar, and that is enough to fix the preventable failure: missing the door months before public attention arrives.
New people are steering unmatched royalties. Your metadata decides what finds you
On January 29, The MLC announced one appointment and six reappointments across three advisory committees; its Unclaimed Royalties Oversight and Dispute Resolution committees each have five songwriter and five publisher representatives (The MLC). The Operations Advisory Committee has six publisher and six digital-service representatives.
What it means if you are trying to get placed. The committee names are a useful map of what can go wrong after music is released or placed. A work that cannot be matched because a title, writer, publisher, or share is missing can end up in the unclaimed system. A work carrying conflicting ownership claims can move into dispute instead of payment. Audit your catalogue before either happens: register short cues and alternate versions as carefully as full songs, make every writer’s submitted shares agree with the signed split sheet, use the same title everywhere, and resolve overlapping claims rather than hoping they disappear. Then keep evidence of every correction. The equal songwriter representation on the two committees does not mean an individual case will be fixed automatically, but it does mean independent-writer experience has a formal place in policy. If you have deep self-administration experience, watch for future candidate calls and read the eligibility terms when they appear. If you do not, the immediate action is still clear: make your data legible enough that your money never needs committee-level policy to rescue it. A placement is not fully administered when the licence is signed; it is fully administered when the work and recording can be matched to every report that follows.
January’s common thread is timing. A rate hearing remained open, award windows proved they close months before the headlines, public records grew, and royalty committees were seated. Put the dates and identifiers into your operating system now; they are cheaper to maintain before a placement than to reconstruct after one.