What is a Notice of Intent (NOI)?

It means an outside party wants to use your music.

If you are a songwriter with work that has been commercially recorded and released, you may eventually receive a Notice of Intent (NOI) letter stating that a third party wants to record or distribute your song.

Under the Copyright Law of the United States, they must obtain a mechanical license from the rights holder in order to distribute the recording. Sending a NOI letter is all that’s required to obtain a compulsory mechanical license.

After sending the letter and agreeing to pay the statutory royalty rate — currently 9.1 cents per track (or 1.75 cents per minute of playing time, whichever is greater) for physical and download releases in the U.S. — the composition can be re-recorded or distributed without prior approval from the songwriter(s) or publisher. The only stipulation is that the original songwriter must be notified and compensated according to the statute.

Interested in learning more? Check out our blog post on Notice of Intents (NOI).

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Disclaimer: This article is for educational and informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. The content contained in this article is not legal advice or a legal opinion on any specific matter or matters.