17 U.S.C. § 116 — Negotiated licenses for public performances by means of coin-operated phonorecord players

(a) This section applies to any non-dramatic musical work that's on a phonorecord — for example, a song on a record, played through a jukebox. (b)(1) Song copyright owners and jukebox operators may negotiate their own royalty rates and terms, and split the fees among owners however they agree. They can appoint shared agents to negotiate, agree to, pay, or collect those royalties. (2) If parties don't reach a private deal, they can instead have the rates and fee-split set through the chapter 8 proceeding — a process run by the Copyright Royalty Judges. (c) A license negotiated under subsection (b) overrides — takes priority over — whatever the Copyright Royalty Judges would otherwise have decided. (d) Definitions — (1) A "coin-operated phonorecord player" is a jukebox-type machine that: (A) plays non-dramatic musical works from phonorecords only when someone inserts coins, currency, tokens, or the equivalent; (B) sits in a place that doesn't charge admission; (C) has a visible list of every song it can play, posted on the machine or nearby where the public can read it; and (D) lets customers pick which song plays. (2) An "operator" is anyone who, alone or with others: (A) owns the machine; (B) can place it in a business location; or (C) controls which songs are loaded onto it.