SOCAN Responds to Canada’s New AI Strategy, Calls to Protect Copyrighted Music

SOCAN is standing firm in its stance on copyrighted music in the age of AI.

The music rights organization has released a statement in response to the Canadian government’s new National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, which was unveiled earlier this month. The strategy proposes “AI for All,” a “safe, reliable, and sovereign AI.”

In its statement, SOCAN commends the government for advocating for more transparency, while pointing out the increasingly urgent need to protect musicians in a climate where their intellectual property is increasingly endangered.

“Further action is needed to stop the theft of copyright-protected music in Canada,” SOCAN said. “We urge the Government of Canada to enact meaningful input transparency laws without delay, specifically to require AI companies to track and disclose what songs and compositions are used in the training of their models. Without this basic obligation, music creators do not know how or when their music is being used to power AI generation technology, and are left fighting to obtain fair compensation.”

The non-consensual use of music for AI training has become a growing concern over the last few months following frequent cases of intellectual property theft. Last week, a new data leak published by The Atlantic revealed that massive datasets containing more than 12 million songs each are being used to train generative AI platforms with music by Canadian artists like Drake, Nemahsis, Lunice, Backxwash and more, unbeknownst to them.

There have been countless incidents where AI-generated music has wrongly appeared on the profiles of singers like Anne Murray and Leith Ross, as well as controversies surrounding songs that bear an eerie resemblance to another artist’s voice. Alessia Cara recently spoke on an AI-generated track that mimicked her “isms” and breaths, and the Billboard Canadian Hot 100-charting hit “I Run.” by HAVEN. was notoriously taken down from streaming services following claims that it plagiarized Jorja Smith’s voice.

SOCAN has defended intellectual property in the new AI age. Back in February, the organization launched a national campaign to prohibit the unlicensed use of copyrighted music for training AI, receiving strong backing from artists and music companies alike, including Sarah McLachlan, Mac DeMarco, BMG and Nettwerk Music Group. Jennifer Brown, CEO of SOCAN, soon doubled down by teaming up with the Australian performing rights society APRA AMCOS to release a joint statement against AI addressed to Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Despite its firm stance, SOCAN has also shown openness to AI amid its increasing prevalence, by allowing partially AI-generated music to be registered to its service.

“It recognizes that music creators are embracing new tools, while reinforcing our commitment to what matters most: respect for their work and the protection of human creativity. The future of music can embrace AI and still remain deeply human,” Brown said in Oct. 2025.

Amid the constant push-and-pull that the Canadian government faces from music organizations when dealing with AI-related legislation, SOCAN remains omnipresent on the front lines advocating for the fair use of music, as it did during the hearings on artificial intelligence at the House of Commons last Fall.

“SOCAN will continue to engage constructively with the federal government on behalf of our over 200,000 songwriters, composers, and music publishers who are our direct members. We are focused on ensuring that Canada’s approach to artificial intelligence supports a strong and sustainable cultural ecosystem. As Canada shapes its AI future, it is essential that music creators and publishers are not left behind,” the company concluded in its statement.