ASCAP, BMI & SOCAN Announce New AI Music Registration Rules
Gary Whittaker
ASCAP, BMI & SOCAN Announce New AI Music Registration Rules
The three major performance rights organizations—ASCAP, BMI, and SOCAN—have jointly announced new policies for registering musical works that incorporate artificial intelligence. In this featured video, Top Music Attorney (Miss Krystle) explains how these changes affect songwriters, producers, and AI-assisted creators.
Key Points from the Joint Statement
- ASCAP, BMI, and SOCAN will now accept registrations for works partially created with AI.
- All three organizations reaffirm that training AI models on copyrighted music without permission is not fair use but constitutes infringement.
- Human authorship remains a requirement for royalty eligibility, though AI-assisted components may be included if disclosed.
- Each PRO supports ongoing lawsuits and legislation defending creators against unauthorized AI data scraping.
Eligibility Tiers Explained
- Fully Human-Created: 100% eligible for registration and royalties.
- Human Created, AI-Assisted: Eligible (e.g., lyric ideas, mixing, mastering).
- Human + Partial AI Generation: Eligible if human and AI contributions are clearly identified and disclosed.
- Prompt-Only / Fully AI Generated: Not eligible—no human authorship, no royalty collection.
Required Disclosure
ASCAP, BMI, and SOCAN will soon include a disclosure section in registration forms where creators can specify how AI tools contributed to a work. This aligns with U.S. Copyright Office guidance on partial AI authorship.
Legal Clarifications
- AI systems cannot be credited as authors or publishers under current law.
- Creators must revise past registrations that include AI-only songs (BMI contact:
revisedworks@bmi.com). - Training AI models on copyrighted music without permission does not qualify as fair use and is considered theft of creative property.
About Top Music Attorney (Miss Krystle)
Top Music Attorney is an entertainment law platform led by Krystle Delgado, a licensed attorney and independent artist. She educates creators on copyright law, royalties, and AI policy. For legal consultations or free learning resources, visit topmusicattorney.com.