This March 2026 edition covers what changed in February.
The most visible stories were awards, but the more durable work sat underneath them: registering the right capacity, knowing which forum can hear a small claim, and understanding that a statutory rate can still be unsettled after the calendar turns.
Awards show what finished work looks like. Registration decides who can actually be paid for it.
What changed
One screen song beat the field at the Grammys. Its credits tell a bigger story
The Recording Academy lists “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters as the 2026 winner for Best Song Written for Visual Media, with six credited songwriters; three of the category’s six nominated songs came from Sinners (Recording Academy). The category recognizes melody-and-lyric songs written specifically for and used in film, television, games, or other visual media.
What it means if you are trying to get placed. Use the category definition as a filter on your goals. This is a songwriter award for purpose-written work, not a general prize for any catalogue song that happens to land in a film. If you want to pursue this lane, make it clear that you can write to picture and to a production’s story requirements, rather than sending only finished tracks with no commissioning path. The winning credit also shows why session paperwork matters: six writers can fit on one song, but only if the split, spelling, affiliations, and registrations survive from the room to the final credit. Complete the split sheet while everyone still agrees on what happened, then submit matching data to the relevant organizations. The category explicitly includes video games, so do not treat game commissions as outside the recognized visual-media field. Finally, keep awards in proportion. A nomination does not supply a licence, a fee, or a new placement. Its value for an independent writer is diagnostic: listen to how the nominated songs serve character and plot, note that three came from one film, and decide whether your catalogue is built for existing-song licensing, custom writing, or both. Pitch the route you can actually deliver.
Canada’s songwriters pushed back on free AI training of their catalogues
On February 5, SOCAN called on Canada’s government to reject any new copyright exception that would allow protected works to be used for AI training without authorization (SOCAN). Its campaign cited projected creator-income pressure and public-opinion figures, but announced no enacted law or legislative deadline.
What it means if you are trying to get placed. Do not wait for Parliament to decide what your contracts should say. Review distribution, administration, library, and representation agreements for “machine learning,” “model development,” “training,” “ingestion,” and broad future-technology grants. If the language allows those uses, find out whether your consent is required, whether participation is track-specific, how revenue is shared, and whether the right survives termination. If the agreement is silent, ask for a written carve-out or a clear opt-in mechanism rather than assuming silence protects you. This matters in sync because a buyer may ask you to warrant that every element of a track is clear and that no third party has obtained conflicting rights. Keep the advocacy numbers in their proper category: SOCAN presented them to support a policy position, not as audited results for any individual writer. The announcement changed the negotiating context, not Canadian law. For artists with Canadian co-writers or Canadian exploitation, it is also a reminder to coordinate positions. One writer’s administrator may have authority to license uses the others have not considered. Put AI rights on the split-sheet follow-up list before a placement makes the disagreement expensive.
Silence in an agreement is not a carve-out; if training rights are not reserved, ask for that in writing.
Your recordings can now collect royalties in 17 more international markets
On February 9, SoundExchange announced 17 new agreements with collective management organizations, taking its portfolio above 90 agreements and its stated coverage beyond 91% of the available global neighbouring-rights market (SoundExchange). Registered performers and rights owners can elect international collection through SX Direct, and the announcement says those collections are not limited to streaming (SoundExchange international announcement).
What it means if you are trying to get placed. Check both capacities in which a recording can earn. If you own the master, you may need a rights-owner registration. If you are a featured performer, you may need a performer registration as well. Those are not interchangeable, and neither is the songwriter registration you maintain with a PRO or mechanical collective. After a placement airs internationally, the composition side and the recording side travel through different systems; a US publishing administrator does not collect worldwide neighbouring rights. In SX Direct, review whether your international election covers all available territories or only selected ones, and confirm that each recording has one correct ISRC, an accurate master owner, and complete performer credits. The newly listed relationships reached markets across Europe, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America, so a globally distributed series can touch them even if you never marketed a release there yourself. Do not infer a payout from network coverage: actual income still depends on qualifying use, local rules, reports, and matching. The concrete action is to make yourself matchable before a report arrives. Registration after the fact can become a slow recovery project; registration before delivery is ordinary catalogue maintenance.
Chasing smaller copyright claims could become faster and less expensive
On February 13, the Copyright Office published its CASE Act report on the Copyright Claims Board, which had opened in June 2022 and received more than 1,700 claims (Copyright Office NewsNet). The Office recommended changes focused on a shorter and simpler process, compliance review, and service of process.
What it means if you are trying to get placed. Put the CCB on your enforcement decision tree, but not at the top of every disagreement. If you discover an unlicensed use in an ad, corporate video, channel, or other audiovisual work, preserve evidence before contacting anyone: record the use with visible time and location information, save the page and date, identify the cue and duration, retain delivery correspondence, and collect the registration numbers for the musical work and sound recording. Then compare the claim with the CCB’s actual scope and process. The forum was designed for claims that would be impractical to take to federal court, but respondents can opt out, and the February report did not remove that feature or guarantee recovery. Registration timing still matters, so do not treat discovery of an infringement as the moment to begin organizing ownership. Clean registrations, signed splits, and a traceable master chain give you options before a dispute. The report’s focus on service and compliance also sets expectations: even a smaller forum has procedural work, and a valid claim can still demand time. This is not legal advice, and a meaningful dispute may justify counsel. The practical change is that “too small for federal court” no longer has to mean “no available forum.”
Internet-radio royalty rates went back before a changed panel
The Copyright Royalty Judges held supplemental closing arguments in Web VI on February 13 because the original arguments occurred before interim Chief Judge Trevor Jefferson was appointed (Copyright Royalty Board announcements). The proceeding concerns rates and terms for digital performances of sound recordings and the related ephemeral copies.
What it means if you are trying to get placed. The lesson is not to speculate about what a new judge would do. It is to write agreements that survive a rate process. If a deal allocates statutory master income, use language tied to the rate finally determined or adjusted by the Copyright Royalty Board for the applicable service and period. Avoid a loose reference to “the current rate,” especially when a new rate period has begun but the contested process is still moving. Learn the distinction between the negotiated sync fee and statutory downstream income: a licence to picture is one transaction; non-interactive digital performance of the recording is another revenue line with its own statute, rate, reporting, and collection body. Register the master and its ISRC with SoundExchange before you expect that line to match. Also learn the proceeding names well enough to ask a useful question. Web VI concerns webcasting; it is not the same as Phonorecords V, public broadcasting, or satellite services. Knowing the correct docket family lets you evaluate contract language and collection statements without accepting a vague explanation that “the platform sets it.” Nothing in the February rehearing itself changed a rate, so the honest action then was to watch and avoid fixed-number shortcuts.
Film, TV, game, ad, and trailer buyers just appeared on one research list
The 16th Guild of Music Supervisors Awards took place February 28 and recognized work across film, television, documentaries, advertising, trailers, and video games (GMS Awards). The published recipient list separates film budget levels and distinguishes synchronization from original music in several markets (2026 GMS recipients).
What it means if you are trying to get placed. Treat the categories as market research, not as a directory for an email blast. Start with the work: watch the recognized scene, spot, trailer, episode, or game material and identify what the music is doing. Then use the category structure to decide what you are offering. “Synch” points to an existing recording being licensed; “Original Music” points to a commission. A supervisor looking for one is not automatically looking for the other. Film budget tiers also matter. A low-budget or non-theatrical project has different clearance pressure from a major-budget film, and your one-stop, easy-clear catalogue may be more useful there than a famous reference track you cannot actually replace. Trailer supervision is its own discipline, including interactive trailers, so deliverable readiness matters: instrumental, clean, vocal-up and vocal-down versions, stems, short edits, precise durations, and a clear statement of who can approve both rights. Names that recur across formats can tell you where one person’s work extends, but they do not create permission for unsolicited contact. Research fit first, follow stated submission routes, and keep the outreach short enough that the music remains the point.
Synch and original music are different offers, and a buyer looking for one is not automatically looking for the other.
February’s two awards pages show what finished work looks like. The other four items show what has to exist behind it: contracts that address new rights, registrations in the correct capacity, evidence that can support a claim, and rate language that remains accurate when a proceeding moves.