ASCAP - American Society of Composers And Publishers

ASCAP stands for the American Society of Composers And Publishers. It's a non-profit performing rights association of more than 315,000 US songwriters, lyricists, composers, and music publishers.

It was created in 1914 and has agreements with most of the similar international societies and so represents hundreds of thousands of music creators around the world.

It is the only U.S. performing rights organization that is controlled by its members to look after their music rights. It has a board of Directors which comes from the membership and is elected by them.

Its job is to protect the rights of its members. It does this by licensing and distributing royalties for the non-dramatic public performances of their copyrighted works. Its licensees include all people and groups who publicly perform copyrighted music.

This allows creators and users of music to give and obtain permission to perform music. Not only this but it is a huge supporter of its members with representatives across the US to help its members, It provides workshops like their annual EXPO.

Another critical function it provides is fighting and advocating for its members rights to maintain and profit from their copyrights. This means expensive work with legislators.

They have recently written A Bill Of Rights For Songwriters and Composers which is a must read and also a paper on Music Copyright In The Digital Age: A Position Paper.

They are using these to fight for the protection of your rights in this digital download era. If you're concerned about your copyrights check them out.

Visit A.S.C.A.P. to see all the services they provide.