The Artists Coalition--led by Don Henley [ tickets ] and Sheryl Crow [ tickets ]--along with a number of other artists’ advocacy groups, has reached an agreement with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the dispute over a recently passed “works made for hire” law. The RIAA, in a reversal of its original stance, has agreed to join with the artists in petitioning Congress to repeal the law. The law allows record companies to maintain ownership of an artist’s recorded works for 95 years instead of the previous 35-year time period.

"This shows what artists can do if we are willing to stand together to protect our interests," said Henley in a prepared statement released after the agreement was announced. The Artists Coalition--along with the American Federation of Musicians, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the Music Managers Forum, AmSong and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences--had been urging the RIAA for a number of months to aid in repealing a recently-passed law that the artists felt the RIAA had helped usher through Congress.

"We said from the beginning we did not intend to change the law and have worked diligently to assure that the issue of work for hire is resolved without prejudice to anyone's position," said Hilary Rosen, president and CEO of the RIAA, on Tuesday (8/8) in a statement announcing the agreement. "The book needs to be closed on this issue so we can get back to a united industry on so many important challenges of the day.”

"I am glad we have been able to resolve this,” added attorney Jay Cooper, who represented artists in negotiations with the RIAA. “Artists and record companies have so many issues in common and we need to be working together."

Though the RIAA’s decision to side with the artists is a victory, the real battle still lies in getting Congress to repeal the law.

Controversy over the law--an amendment to the 1976 Copyright Act--erupted shortly after it was passed last year with support from the RIAA, but without either a congressional debate or input from recording artists. The amendment essentially says that musicians’ recorded works will be treated as freelance “works made for hire” of which the record labels could potentially control ownership for 95 years, as opposed to turning the rights over to the artist after the previous standard of 35 years.

Henley and Crow formed the Artists Coalition shortly after the amendment was approved, enlisted other high-profile musicians such as Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen into their ranks, and have since been lobbying to have the law repealed.

Meanwhile, in a statement released on Thursday (8/10), Henley indicated that his organization would continue to fight this and other threats to artists’ rights.

"The Artists Coalition--which will soon be renamed the Recording Artists Coalition--is growing in strength and numbers,” said Henley. “We will continue to monitor any and all legislation that could affect the intellectual property rights of recording artists. This is only the beginning."