Voluntary collective licensing

Okay kiddo, have you ever heard of a song? It's like a special noise that someone makes by singing or playing an instrument. Now, sometimes lots of people like to listen to the same song. And sometimes, different people like to use parts of the song in different ways, like putting it in their own video or playing it in a store.

Voluntary collective licensing is a way for all those different people to share the song without having to ask the person who created it every time they want to use it. The person who made the song gets paid for it, but they let other people use it too as long as they follow some rules.

It's kind of like when you share your toys with your friends. You let them play with them, but you make sure they don't break them and they give them back when they're done. And if they want to keep playing with them, they have to ask you nicely first.

That's kind of what voluntary collective licensing is like, but with songs instead of toys!