SoundExchange, the group that collects and distributes digital performance royalties, estimated that the gap in copyright for pre-1972 recordings forced artists to lose out on more than $60 million in royalties in 2014 alone – a figure that swelled to more than $70 million in royalties in 2015, the latest year for which the figures are available.
Source: It’s Time to Bring Pre-1972 Copyrights Out of the Dark Ages:Guest Post | Variety