ASCAP, BMI, and SOCAN Announce New AI Registration Rules

Photo Credit: Possessed Photography

Want to register machine-made works with PROs? Feel free, as BMI, ASCAP, and SOCAN alike have updated their policies to accept “compositions partially generated” by AI.

All three entities revealed their new AI registration rules today, and there’s quite a lot to unpack in the joint announcement. At the top level, the PROs have officially given the green light to “registrations of musical compositions partially generated using artificial intelligence (AI) tools.”

And despite machines’ clear-cut assistance in bringing those compositions to life, “partial AI works are not compensated differently,” per a related FAQs section on BMI’s website.

Though “substantial” doesn’t appear at all in the main release, the same BMI site section spells out that “partially generated” covers works with “substantial AI-generated elements” – so long as the outputs “are integrated into a human-led creative process.”

At least for now, humans are still leading the AI dance; it seems reasonable to describe any purported creative process involving artificial intelligence as “human-led.”

As such, even utilizing AI to pump out “multiple verses and selecting or editing portions to fit the creator’s overall concept” would render a creation eligible for registration, according to the text.

That raises a worthwhile question: What isn’t covered by the new policies? Well, the relevant BMI resource draws a line at efforts “generated entirely by AI using only text prompts, without meaningful human creative contribution.”

To the detriment of actual talent and creativity itself, the requirements look to leave plenty of room to inject a human “contribution” en route to registering. Furthermore, registered works must also meet “the U.S. Copyright Office’s standard of the minimum threshold for human creativity,” per BMI.

Turning back the clock a few years, the Office in said standard endorsed artists’ modifying “material originally generated by AI technology to such a degree that the modifications meet the standard for copyright protection.”

A couple closing notes: It will, of course, be interesting to monitor the changes’ registration impact – referring in part to the PROs’ repertoire sizes. In light of the quick-evolving situation’s unprecedented nature, voluntary disclosures factor prominently into the retooled rules.

“While not required, disclosure is recommended,” BMI’s site states on the AI front, “as it helps maintain clarity around authorship and aligns with evolving industry standards. BMI will not be asking creators to report the use of AI tools that are part of production or support process and do not impact the authorship of the composition.”

Finally, the most interesting part of BMI’s supplemental AI registration text concerns the possibility of receiving compensation for prompt-produced creations in nations “where AI works are given copyright protection” – a possibility that the PRO hasn’t shut down altogether.

“BMI will continue to follow Copyright Office guidance on U.S. law,” the appropriate answer reads. “However, BMI is actively engaging in discussions with foreign PROs and closely monitoring developments in the industry as well as the applicable laws in each country.”