Well worth reading: A review by Peter Hirtle of the various claims by the Copyright Clearance Center that it is effectively a creature of Congress, or a nonprofit that serves all entities.

The truth is that it was formed by publishers, to serve publisher interests. It was a need identified by Congress, but they had envisioned a multi-stakeholder process. CCC is not that.

Although, in the open access world, and when universities are once again reclaiming their rights, perhaps the time is ripe for a licensing entity that truly represents scholarly authors (embedded in universities) as well as rightsholders, to connect them with would-be users who might fall outside the various open access licenses.