New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Award-winning songwriters and composers will convene on Capitol Hill tomorrow,
September 21, to meet with elected officials as part of the annual American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers' (ASCAP) "Stand with Songwriters" Advocacy Day. They will urge Members of Congress to protect the rights of American music creators and defend the value of music in the age of artificial intelligence (AI).
"True music comes from deep within our souls; it's human-first, heart songs, revealing and often healing our human condition," said ASCAP Chairman of the Board and President Paul Williams. "Now we need Congress to put humans first, stand with songwriters and protect our rights to our own musical works. Don't give them away to AI."
"Artificial intelligence is moving at the speed of light and we need lawmakers to act now," said ASCAP CEO
Elizabeth Matthews. "We fully embrace innovation but only innovation coupled with regulation that protects the rights of creators."
In their meetings on Capitol Hill, ASCAP members will urge policymakers to adhere to the six key, creator-centric principles for AI that were unanimously adopted by the ASCAP Board of Directors earlier this year:
Human Creators First: Prioritizing rights and compensation for human creativity
Consent: Protecting the right to decide whether one's work is included in an AI training license
Compensation: Making sure creators are paid fairly when their work is used in ANY way by AI, which is best accomplished in a free market, NOT with government-mandated licensing that essentially eliminates consent
Credit when creators' works are used in new AI-generated music
Transparency in identifying AI vs. human-generated works and retaining metadata
Global Consistency: An even playing field that values intellectual property across the global music and data ecosystem.
ASCAP's congressional meetings will follow tonight's "We Write the Songs" concert at The Library of Congress, sponsored by The ASCAP Foundation. The event features performances by popular ASCAP members who will be introduced by Members of Congress, including influential songwriting and production duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis ("No More Drama," Mary J Blige; "What Have You Done for Me Lately,"
Janet Jackson), renowned songwriter and producer
Jermaine Dupri ("We Belong Together," Mariah Carey; "Confessions Part II," Usher), hit pop songwriter Madison Love ( "Kings & Queens," Ava Max; "Turbulence," P!nk), Broadway and screen songwriting duo Pasek and Paul (La La Land, Dear Evan Hansen) and contemporary Christian artist and newly announced ASCAP Golden Note Award honoree
Matthew West ("The Motions," "Hello, My Name Is").
ASCAP songwriter and composer advocates on Capitol Hill will include Jam, Lewis, Love, Pasek and Paul, West, hit songwriter and producer Cirkut ("Seven,"
Jung Kook feat Latto; "Roar," Katy Perry), Williams and ASCAP songwriter, composer and publisher board members Bob Bruderman, Desmond Child, Marti Cuevas, Sharon Farber, Dan Foliart, Ree Guyer,
James M. Kendrick, Evan Lamberg, Michelle Lewis, Alex Shapiro, Jonathan Singer and Jimmy Webb.
ASCAP has invited its songwriter, composer and music publisher members from all 50 states to join the effort, with email activations and opportunities to engage across its social media channels all week long.
