Can I register an AI-assisted song with ASCAP, BMI, or SOCAN?
Can I register an AI-assisted song with ASCAP, BMI, or SOCAN?
Plain English. This is not legal advice — consult a music attorney or your PRO directly before filing. AI copyright law is evolving rapidly and the guidance below reflects the state of things as of mid-2026.
Short answer: generally yes, with disclosure
None of the major performing rights organizations — ASCAP, BMI, SOCAN (Canada), PRS (UK), SACEM (France) — currently ban AI-assisted works outright. What they require is accurate disclosure and a human author on the registration. As of mid-2026, registration of AI-assisted works where a human made meaningful creative contributions is accepted, with the human listed as the author and the AI-generated nature of some elements disclosed.
The US Copyright Office's March 2023 guidance is the clearest statement to date: AI-generated elements without human creative selection or arrangement are not copyrightable, but human creative expression in an AI-assisted work is protectable. PROs follow copyright registrability; a song with documented human authorship can be registered.
What BananaRat Studio produces for PRO registration
Every song made with BananaRat Studio includes an Evidence Bundle — a PDF export containing:
- A plain-English authorship narrative describing the human creative decisions made during composition, drawn from the Witness Log
- A PRO-ready split sheet with fields for IPI numbers and ownership percentages
- Composition date and session metadata
- An AI disclosure statement listing the elements generated by the platform versus those supplied or directed by the human author
This bundle is designed to accompany a PRO registration filing. It is not a substitute for legal review if your song is intended for significant commercial exploitation.
Copyright Office registration (US)
For US copyright registration, the Copyright Office requires you to identify AI-generated content in your application and to describe the human-authored elements. The Evidence Bundle's authorship narrative is structured to map to these requirements. Songs with higher Authorship Evidence scores — reflecting more human input across lyrics, structure, melodic choices, and iterative refinement — have a stronger basis for registration.
There is no guarantee that any particular song will be registered. The Copyright Office examines applications on a case-by-case basis.
A note on McGucken and §512
Some discussion in the music community references Elliot McGucken v. Frugal Fun (2023) in the context of AI and copyright. The case addressed DMCA safe harbor provisions (§512), not the registrability of AI-assisted works per se. BananaRat Studio's legal posture takes the §512 safe harbor into account for how we handle content on the platform — but the McGucken case does not directly determine whether your AI-assisted song is registrable. That question is governed by the Copyright Act and the Copyright Office's guidance.
SOCAN and Canadian law
Canada's Copyright Act similarly requires a human author. SOCAN does not have a blanket exclusion for AI-assisted works as of mid-2026. If you are a Canadian songwriter, the same disclosure-plus-human-authorship framework applies. The Evidence Bundle is formatted to work with SOCAN filings.