Mechanical Lessons for Lawyers in an Age of Infotainment
By Sally Vazquez-Castellanos, Esq.
A short morning chat with generative AI
This morning’s conversation began, as it often does, with a scene rather than a statute. I was thinking about the ballerina music box in “The Handmaid’s Tale”—the moment when June’s world quietly but irrevocably shifts. The ballerina spins, endlessly, beautifully, mechanically. And June wakes up.
That image—ornamental movement without agency—feels increasingly relevant to the way we experience music today, particularly inside vehicles. What looks like a harmless “jukebox” on a dashboard may, for lawyers, represent something far more consequential: a convergence of symbolism, technology, and copyright law that demands closer attention.
June’s awakening: the ballerina that never stops spinning
In Season 1, Episode 8 (“Jezebels”), Serena Joy gives June a ballerina music box. When opened, the figurine spins to an off-key, music-box rendition of Swan Lake. The ballerina’s motion is automatic—beautiful, controlled, repetitive. She exists to perform.
June later removes the box’s key and uses it to carve words into her closet wall, beside the earlier inscription left by another woman: “You Are Not Alone.” The gift meant to pacify becomes a tool of resistance.
The symbolism is deliberate. The ballerina is femininity reduced to motion. June’s awakening occurs when she recognizes the mechanism—and interrupts it.
From music box to jukebox: the modern vehicle as a spinning system
Fast forward to the present day.
Inside modern vehicles, infotainment systems function as digital jukeboxes—interactive, personalized, always on. Music streams, playlists rotate, algorithms anticipate mood and movement. Like the ballerina, the system performs continuously, often invisibly.
But unlike the vintage jukebox in a diner, today’s in-car systems are not merely playback devices.
They:
Cache and store music.
Stream interactive and non-interactive content.
Integrate user data, location, and behavioral signals.
They operate within complex licensing frameworks.
The driver may feel in control. The system, however, spins on rails set by code, contracts, and copyright law.
The jukebox in copyright law: performance versus mechanics
Historically, the jukebox occupied a specific legal space in U.S. copyright law. A coin-operated phonorecord player triggered public performance rights under 17 U.S.C. § 116, once governed by a compulsory license and now handled through negotiated licensing regimes.
Crucially, the jukebox was not about copying. It was about playing music in public.
Mechanical royalties, by contrast, arise under 17 U.S.C. § 115 and concern the reproduction and distribution of musical works—historically vinyl and CDs, now digital downloads and certain streams.
The lesson for lawyers is this:
Movement is not the same as reproduction, but modern systems blur the distinction.
The Music Modernization Act and the new “jukebox”
The Music Modernization Act of 2018 (MMA) modernized mechanical licensing for the digital age, creating a blanket license administered by the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC). Its focus is not the classic jukebox, but digital services that reproduce and distribute musical works at scale.
Yet the MMA is highly relevant to vehicle infotainment systems because:
In-car platforms may cache or download music (mechanical implications). Interactive streams invoke different rights than radio-style playback. Licensing obligations shift depending on system architecture.
In other words, the modern “jukebox” is no longer a box. It is a networked environment.
The legal lesson: recognizing the mechanism
June’s awakening is not loud. It is precise. She recognizes the mechanism that keeps the ballerina spinning—and reclaims the key.
For lawyers advising:
Automotive manufacturers
Infotainment developers
Streaming platforms
Media and technology companies
—the lesson is similar. Do not be distracted by the elegance of the interface. Ask:
Who controls the reproduction? Where does the copy live? Is this a performance, a distribution, or both? Which licensing regime applies—and why?
What appears ornamental may, in fact, be mechanical. And what spins effortlessly may carry significant legal weight.
Closing reflection
The ballerina spins until someone stops the music.
In an era where vehicles have become rolling media environments, lawyers must learn to see the jukebox not as nostalgia, but as warning: systems designed to perform endlessly can obscure agency, authorship, and accountability.
June’s message still resonates—etched quietly into the wall:
You are not alone.
But you must know where the key is.
Published sources
Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale. Anchor Books, 1985.
The Handmaid’s Tale, Season 1, Episode 8 (“Jezebels”), Hulu (2017).
TVLine, “The Handmaid’s Tale Recap: Jezebels” (discussion of the ballerina music box and symbolism).
The A.V. Club, Review of The Handmaid’s Tale, Season 1, Episode 8.
Vulture (New York Magazine), Episode 8 recap and analysis.
17 U.S.C. § 115 (Mechanical License).
17 U.S.C. § 116 (Public Performance by Coin-Operated Phonorecord Players).
Orrin G. Hatch–Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act, Pub. L. No. 115-264 (2018).
U.S. Copyright Office, Music Licensing Modernization resources. Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC), official guidance and FAQs.
This article is provided for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice, in accordance with State Bar of California requirements.