AI and music: how Sabam protects your creation

Why indicate AI usage when registering your work?

Generative AI is transforming how music is made. From inspiration to fully generated compositions, AI influences both the creative process and how works are assessed. Sabam closely monitors these developments and takes action to ensure your work is managed and protected correctly.

What’s in it for you?

Transparency – clear insight into the creative process enables accurate documentation.
Stronger protection – precise information strengthens our detection and monitoring systems.
Future‑proofing – aligns with upcoming Belgian and European rules on AI use.

How does it work?

When you submit a new work, you will first see the question:
“Did you use AI?”

If you choose “No” — you declare that the work is fully human‑made.
If you choose “Yes” — you then select one of the three options below, depending on the role AI played in your creative process.

The three AI options

AI as an assistant

The lyrics and/or composition are based on human creativity, with AI used only as a support tool during the process.

→ The work is fully protected by copyright.

AI as a component

One of the two elements (lyrics or composition) is created by a human; the other is generated through prompts in AI software.

→ Only the human contribution is protected by copyright.

Work fully generated by AI

The work is created exclusively via prompts in an AI model, with no human creative input.

→ This work is not protected by copyright.

How Sabam actively protects your repertoire

The AI indication strengthens our monitoring through:

MP3 comparisons

Audio fingerprinting

Alerts when many similar submissions appear

Analysis of similarities using AI‑supported systems

Protection regarding AI providers
AI models are often trained on large volumes of existing music. Sabam therefore advocates for full transparency about training datasets, prior authorisation, and fair compensation when protected works are used to train systems.

FAQ — Authorship, AI and Your Rights

Why does Sabam facilitate the declaration of AI use in creative works?

AI is playing an increasingly important role in music creation. Sabam wants to ensure that authors are correctly and fairly remunerated, including when their works are used to train AI models. As a collective management organisation, we administer copyright‑protected works; therefore, it is essential to know which part of a work is based on human creative input. This assessment always remains the responsibility of the author or publisher.

More and more members use AI as a source of inspiration, as a tool or for specific creative elements. Sabam does not want to slow down this evolution but wishes to support it transparently and responsibly. That is why MyWorx offers the possibility to clearly indicate the role AI has played. This information helps us classify works correctly and strengthen our control and detection systems. Our principle remains unchanged: those who create must be protected. And those who contribute to AI technologies should be able to share in the value they generate.

Why is AI a challenge for copyright?

Generative AI systems are trained on vast amounts of existing creative works — music, texts, images, recordings and audiovisual material. This often happens without permission or remuneration for the rightsholders. This leads to several challenges:

Lack of transparency about which works are used for training.
Use of protected repertoire without permission, even though these works generate value for AI platforms.
No fair remuneration model for creators, who are rarely compensated when their work is used as training data.
Displacement of human creators, as AI‑generated music increasingly occupies digital channels.

For these reasons, Sabam advocates for clear rules, transparency obligations and fair remuneration mechanisms when creative works are used by technology companies.

Why does this pose a risk to creators’ income?

The rise of AI‑generated music is putting pressure on the income of human creators. Digital platforms and professional environments increasingly use AI content, which reduces the visibility and remuneration of human works.

Creators risk earning less when AI content replaces human creations in playlists, background music, streaming environments or audiovisual productions. In addition, technology companies generate revenue with models trained on creative works for which no remuneration was paid.

That is why Sabam continues to advocate for clear agreements, fair remuneration and a legal framework that protects creators.

What does Sabam do to maintain a fair balance between innovation and protection?

Sabam supports technological developments such as AI — as long as they respect the rights of creators. The creative sector can only evolve sustainably if innovation goes hand in hand with correct remuneration and transparency. Sabam therefore focuses on:

Transparency obligations regarding the datasets used to train models.
Mandatory licences and prior authorisation when creative material is used.
Fair remuneration for authors, composers and publishers.
International cooperation with sister societies.
Active follow‑up of legal cases concerning unlicensed use of protected material.

Sabam strives for a sustainable balance: technology may advance, but not at the expense of the creators who provide its foundation.

What if my co‑author used AI, but I didn’t?

In collaborative projects, one creator may use AI while another does not. In such cases, a work is assessed at the work level, not based on individual contributions.

The principle:

If one co‑author used AI → the work is partially influenced by AI → AI as a component.
Your human contribution always remains protected by copyright.
AI‑generated parts are not protected, but your contribution is.

Clear agreements between co‑authors are crucial. Transparency helps avoid confusion or disputes later on.

Is AI‑generated music royalty‑free?

No. AI‑generated or synthetic music is not royalty‑free. AI systems are trained on millions of existing songs, recordings and compositions — usually without rightsholders’ permission. The results therefore contain elements of protected works. This makes them non‑royalty‑free, even if the AI appears to create a new piece.

What is royalty‑free:

Works whose copyright protection has expired (usually 70 years after the author’s death).
Music not based on existing works and explicitly released for free use by its creator, without permission or payment.

AI music rarely meets these conditions: the sources of the data are unknown and the rights structure is unclear.

Do I need a licence to use AI‑generated music?

Yes, in almost all cases. Most companies offering “synthetic” or AI‑generated music do not yet comply with copyright rules. They train their systems with protected repertoire without permission, transparency or remuneration.

Until formal agreements exist between Sabam and AI platforms, the public use of AI‑generated music falls under existing Unisono licences. This provides legal security and ensures that remuneration reaches the rightful creators.

In short:

AI‑generated music is not automatically royalty‑free.
No licence at the source? Then the legal risk lies with the user/client.
A Unisono licence provides legal certainty and ensures correct remuneration for creators.

What happens to the money Sabam collects for the use of AI‑generated music?

AI platforms currently refuse to reveal which songs were used as models for their tracks. Sabam therefore cannot determine which specific creators served as input.

Because their music still forms the creative raw material, we redistribute remuneration using substitution lists: representative playlists of shops, hospitality venues, gyms, events… We look at the music that would normally be played in those environments and remunerate the authors, composers and publishers of those real works.

This ensures that the money ultimately flows back to the creators who form the creative foundation on which many AI models are built.

AI & music: how Sabam protects your creation