Protect Working Musicians Act of 2026
Latest action (21 May 2026): Introduced
What this bill does
Generate a neutral, plain-English explanation of what this bill does, who it affects and what happens next — grounded in the official text.
Official summary
Protect Working Musicians Act of 2026
This bill allows certain individual music creator owners to collectively negotiate music licensing terms with dominant online music distribution platforms or companies engaged in development or deployment of generative artificial intelligence, including the right to collectively refuse to license their music to such platforms or companies.
Individual music creator owners include musicians, producers, and technicians who own the copyright to a recording and either (1) earned less than $1 million in associated revenues during the prior year, or (2) qualify as a record production and distribution small business.
Dominant online music distribution platforms include interactive online services with annual revenues from music distribution of more than $100 million. Generative artificial intelligence includes artificial intelligence systems that are capable of producing novel text, video, images, audio, and other media based on prompts or other forms of inputted data.
Common questions
- What does H.R. 8994 do?
- Protect Working Musicians Act of 2026 This bill allows certain individual music creator owners to collectively negotiate music licensing terms with dominant online music distribution platforms or companies engaged in development or deployment of generative artificial intelligence, including the right to collectively refuse to license their music to such platforms or companies. Individual music creator owners include musicians, producers, and technicians who own the copyright to a recording and either (1) earned less than $1 million in associated revenues during the prior year, or (2) qualify as a record production and distribution small business. Dominant online music distribution platforms include interactive online services with annual revenues from music distribution of more than $100 million. Generative artificial intelligence includes artificial intelligence systems that are capable of producing novel text, video, images, audio, and other media based on prompts or other forms of inputted data.
- Has H.R. 8994 become law?
- Not yet. As of 21 May 2026, H.R. 8994 is introduced.
- Who sponsored H.R. 8994?
- H.R. 8994 was sponsored by Rep. Deborah Ross [D-NC2] (Democrat-NC), with 3 cosponsors.
- What's the latest action on H.R. 8994?
- Introduced (21 May 2026).
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