Protect Working Musicians Act of 2026

This bill would let independent music copyright owners join together to negotiate licensing terms with large online music platforms and generative artificial intelligence companies without being held liable under federal or state antitrust laws. It would also protect these owners if they jointly refuse to license their music to those companies. Independent owners are defined as musicians, songwriters, and related businesses that earned less than $1 million in licensing revenue in the prior year or qualify as small businesses. Large platforms are defined as online listening services with more than $100 million in yearly music-related revenue. The protection applies only if the negotiations meet certain conditions, such as not being limited to price and including only independent owners and the platform.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• Deborah K. Ross Democrat sponsor
• 8 cosponsors