When you’re listening to vintage recordings on digital radio services, it makes a huge difference to the people who played on them whether they were made before or after February 15, 1972. If Pandora or SiriusXM play a track from, say, Lou Reed’s Transformer, which he recorded that summer, his estate and the performers will get a modest royalty. But when Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” beams soulful grit across the digital ether, the Reverend gets a check only for his share of the songwriting. Clearly, he should’ve waited to cut the record until after Valentine’s Day.

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The Future of Music Coalition, an advocacy group for musicians, said that while it would like the law to go further, the bill is still a positive step. “Recording artists should be paid for the use of their work,” said Casey Rae, VP of policy and education at FMC, in a statement. “And the best way to do this is for Congress to follow the recommendation of the U.S. Copyright Office and federalize pre-1972 copyrights.”