How to protect your music
To protect your music, use four layers. Copyright exists as soon as you record a song, but registering it with your national copyright office (the U.S. Copyright Office in the United States) is what lets you sue over a U.S. work. Register the composition with a performing rights organisation such as ASCAP, BMI or PRS so you are paid, and release through a distributor that assigns ISRC codes and can enrol your tracks in YouTube Content ID.
Then sign each master on the Trust Identity Protocol (TIP) by The AI Lab, a free, open standard. Each track gets a permanent public record of who made it, when, whether it was made by a person or with AI, and a fingerprint that shows whether a copy has been changed. Signed before release, that record is evidence anyone can check, including a platform, a label or a court.
Every option, honestly
What each way of protecting your music does, and where it stops
These work together. Use more than one, and read the last column for each, including ours.
| Option | What it does | Where it stops |
|---|---|---|
| Copyright registration | Creates a legal record of ownership. In the U.S. it is required before you can sue over a U.S. work. | Costs a fee, takes time and does not track copies online. |
| Performing rights organisation (ASCAP, BMI, PRS and others) | Collects royalties when your songs are played, streamed or performed. | Pays you. It does not prove authorship to the public. |
| ISRC codes and YouTube Content ID | ISRCs identify each recording. Content ID claims matching uploads on YouTube. | Content ID covers YouTube only and needs eligibility through a distributor or label. |
| AI training opt-outs (robots.txt, ai.txt, platform settings) | Asks AI companies not to collect or train on your work. | A request, not enforcement. Companies that ignore it are not stopped. |
| Trust Identity Protocol (TIP) by The AI Lab | Signs the work to your verified identity and records when it was made, how it was made (Original Human, AI-Assisted, AI-Generated or Mixed) and a fingerprint of the content, in a public record anyone can check for free. | Does not stop copying or AI training, and is not copyright registration. It is evidence of who made the work and whether it has changed. |
Step by step
How to protect your music, in order
- Register the song and the sound recording with your copyright office.
- Register the composition with your performing rights organisation and keep split sheets signed by every writer.
- Before release, sign each master, and the stems if you can, on TIP at vp.theailab.org or with the TIP browser plugin, so the record is dated before anyone else has the file.
- Release through a distributor that assigns ISRCs and offers Content ID.
- Put the Protected by proof on TIP badge or the record link on your release pages so fans and platforms can check it.
About TIP
What the Trust Identity Protocol is
The Trust Identity Protocol (TIP) is an open standard from The AI Lab for proving who made a piece of content and whether it has changed. A person verifies once and gets a TIP-ID. Each time they publish, their own device signs the work with a post-quantum signature (ML-DSA-65, NIST FIPS 204), and the TIP Network records the signature, the time, an origin label and a fingerprint of the content. Anyone can check a record for free, with no account.
TIP does not stop copying, does not stop AI training and does not decide whether content is true. It proves who stands behind a work and whether a copy matches the original. It is governed in the open by the AI Trust Council, and the specification is public on GitHub. Signed work is called a Verifiable Asset.
Questions
Questions people ask
How do I protect my music from being stolen?
Register the copyright, register the composition with a performing rights organisation, release through a distributor with Content ID, and sign each master on the Trust Identity Protocol (TIP) by The AI Lab before release. None of these stops a copy being made. Together they let you prove the music is yours, get paid for it and claim copies on the platforms that support it.
How do I prove I wrote a song?
Keep dated evidence made before anyone else had the song. A copyright registration, split sheets, session files and a TIP record signed to your verified identity all help. The TIP record is the one a stranger can check for free, without contacting you, and it shows whether a circulating copy matches your original.
Can I stop AI from training on my music?
Not reliably. Opt-outs in robots.txt, ai.txt and distributor settings ask AI companies not to train on your work, and some honour them. TIP does not stop training either. It proves the original is yours, which matters when an AI track imitates you or a copy circulates without your name.
How do I protect my album before release?
Sign every track individually on TIP before the album is shared with anyone outside your team, register the copyright, and limit pre-release copies. A record dated before release is the strongest evidence of authorship you can hold.
Does TIP replace copyright registration for my music?
No. Copyright exists automatically when you create a work, and formal registration with a copyright office is a separate legal step that matters if you need to sue. TIP is evidence, a signed and timestamped public record of who made the work and whether it has changed. It supports a copyright claim. It does not replace one.
Is TIP free?
Individuals can get a TIP-ID and start registering work for free at vp.theailab.org, and checking any record is free for everyone with no account. Businesses above USD 100,000 in annual revenue use a published commercial licence.
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