SOCAN & AI

As artificial intelligence challenges and reshapes the creative ecosystem, SOCAN stands firm on a simple truth: human creativity must be protected, respected, and fairly compensated.

SOCAN AI Principles

Policy on AI Outputs & Works

Respecting Human Creativity in the Age of AI

Artificial Intelligence

Generally speaking, Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to computer systems that are designed to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence. These tasks include things like learning, reasoning, recognizing patterns, understanding language, making decisions, and even creating new content.

Instead of just following fixed instructions, AI systems can analyze data, adapt, and improve their performance over time.

AI brings many positive changes to music

AI has long assisted with mixing and mastering and can restore old recordings with remarkable clarity. For listeners, AI powers personalized recommendations, helping fans discover new artists and genres they might not have found otherwise. In short, AI can act as both a creative partner and a powerful assistant for music creators and fans alike.

AI has also introduced significant challenges in music.

Questions about copyright and ownership arise when AI-generated systems are trained on existing songs, often without music creators’ consent. There’s concern that careers in music creation will be displaced with the flood of AI-generated works in the marketplace. “Deepfake” vocals, which are AI-generated vocals that mimic the vocals of real singers’ voices, also raise both copyright and ethical issues.

These challenges highlight the tension between innovation and the preservation of human creation in music.

The use of music by generative AI platforms

Generative AI is a subset of AI and a powerful new class of tools that can produce complete songs – music and lyrics – in response to a simple written prompt or series of prompts.

These tools are distinct from long-standing studio technologies used for sound recording, editing, and mastering processes because they can create entirely new musical outputs based on patterns learned from massive datasets. Massive datasets that are currently built using the music of SOCAN members and music creators around the world.

SOCAN recognizes the creative potential of generative AI, but we also know it raises real risks for the livelihoods of composers, songwriters and publishers.

Our goal: ensure AI develops in a way that respects, credits and compensates human creators and preserves a healthy market for music.

Navigating AI in Music: Principles and Direction

SOCAN believes generative AI, when used ethically and with a human-centric approach, can be an exciting creative tool, however, it is important that we ensure it credits and compensates human authorship.

Without the right safeguards and respect for the existing copyright framework, it will undermine the incomes and rights of music creators, and the culture of music creation in Canada.

We advocate for:

copyright and AI policies that foster and reward human creativity;
transparency and record-keeping requirements for AI developers;
the ability for creators and their representatives to control how works are used by whom, and on what terms.

Licensing is possible, practical, and necessary to uphold the principles of copyright. As the largest and most active licensor of musical works in Canada, SOCAN firmly believes that licensing musical works to AI companies for TDM or other purposes is not only achievable and practical, but it is the best – and most appropriate – way to support the fundamental purpose of copyright.

Building the Road Ahead

SOCAN is taking several steps to protect our members’ rights and musical works, such as:

Advocacy

We lobby the Canadian government for generative AI rules that mandate transparency, support licensing markets and protect creators’ incomes.

Licensing & Contract Safeguards

We reserve SOCAN’s existing and future rights relating to AI in our licensing agreements to preserve members’ options and revenues.

Member Education

Regular webinars, guidance and resources to explain AI, and provide insights and information on how these systems interact with copyright rules.

Collaboration

Working with international collecting societies, industry groups and governments to shape consistent, practical rules.

The Role of songwriters, composers and music publishers in shaping AI’s future

You can only claim authorship of music that you actually created. To be protected by copyright, music must be your original expression – your own work.

Where an AI application is used to generate an entire musical work, with no input from a songwriter, composer or another individual beyond an initial prompt, the user will not be able to claim authorship, and it will not be protected by copyright.

As a SOCAN member, you have agreed to only register works you own. You are responsible for making sure the registration information you provide, including authorship details, is accurate.

Remember: only music protected by copyright can be registered. Music created solely by AI is not protected by copyright and cannot be registered.

By preserving the integrity of the SOCAN repertoire, we strengthen SOCAN’s ability to continue to collect effectively on your behalf.

Resources & further reading

SOCAN AI Submission to Government of Canada
Generative AI: CDCE’s recommendations to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions
Human Artistry Campaign
AI Training Statement

SOCAN AI Principles

These principles outline the essential safeguards needed to ensure that music creators’ rights are upheld in the age of AI.

Protect human expression

Copyright is designed to protect and reward the value of human expression. Any proposal that weakens or conflicts with this objective should be rejected.

No new copyright exceptions

There should be no new copyright exceptions that would permit AI developers to use creators’ works without permission to develop AI models.

Transparency

AI developers must be transparent about the specific works exploited by an AI model and how the works were sourced and used. Creators must be able to identify whether their works have been used.

AI Labelling

Canadians should know whether they are listening to music created by a human or generated by AI. Developers of AI models should be required to implement a method to identify or detect AI-generated content, and the music industry should be encouraged to adopt a labelling standard to identify AI-generated music. That standard could build on existing identifiers, such as explicit content labels.

Licensing

AI developers must obtain permission from creators or their representatives before using their intellectual property or personality rights, including their voices and likeness.

SOCAN Urges Government to Adopt Principles that Respect Music Creators when Regulating AI

Industry professional Music festival SOCAN

SOCAN sponsors CMW “Virtual Voices” panels to help maximize members’ earnings

JUNOS

SOCAN & AI

Respecting Human Creativity in the Age of AI

The use of music by generative AI platforms

Navigating AI in Music: Principles and Direction