The PRO Registration Mistake That Kills Your Royalties
You’ve put in the work. You’ve used the Golden Seed Method to find your hit, you’ve locked the BPM in Suno Studio, and you’ve mastered the track to -14 LUFS. Now, it’s time to get paid.
You head over to your Performing Rights Organization (PRO)—ASCAP, BMI, or SOCAN—to register your new work. You get to the "Writer" section and you pause. Who wrote this? I prompted it, but Suno generated it. Should I list Suno as a co-writer?
If you enter "Suno AI" or "Artificial Intelligence" in the writer field, you have just committed a career-ending mistake.
The Nightmare Scenario: Rejection & Invalidity
The major North American PROs (ASCAP, BMI, and SOCAN) have been aligning their policies with the U.S. Copyright Office stance: A machine cannot be an author.
If you list an AI platform as a co-writer:
Registration Rejection: Your work will likely be flagged and rejected by the PRO’s automated filters.
Royalty Freeze: Even if it slips through, as soon as a sync placement happens or the track goes viral, the "Chain of Title" will be audited. If the author is listed as a non-human, the copyright is considered invalid, and the royalties are frozen indefinitely.
Invalidated Catalog: This one mistake can cast doubt on your entire portfolio, making you a liability to music publishers and sync agents.
The Correct Way: How to Register in 2026
In Appendix H of the Unlock Suno: Studio Edition, we provide a "PRO Quick-Start Guide" that walks you through this process step-by-step. Here is the professional standard for 2026:
1. List YOURSELF as 100% Writer/Composer You are the Director. You made the creative choices. You are the legal entity responsible for the work. You take 100% of the "Writer" and "Publisher" shares.
2. The Disclosure Box Some PRO registration forms now include a checkbox or field for disclosing AI-assisted content. If available, check this box. This is an act of transparency that protects you. It tells the PRO that you used AI as a tool (like a synthesizer or a DAW), but that the "human-led creative process" remains the source of the work.
3. The Authorship Note In the "Notes" or "Additional Information" field, if required, simply state: "Work created by human author with assistive generative AI tools for production and arrangement." This confirms you are claiming the copyright based on your Hybrid Workflow.
Why This Matters for Your Wallet
PROs collect your performance royalties from radio, streaming, and TV. If your registration is "messy," you are leaving money on the table that you can never recover. By following the "Appendix H" protocol, you ensure that your metadata is clean, your rights are protected, and your royalties are directed exactly where they belong: To you.
Protect Your Performance Royalties
Appendix H isn't just a list of instructions; it’s a legal shield. It’s the information that usually costs $500+ in legal consulting fees, and we’ve included it as a standard part of the Studio Edition.
Don't let a clerical error kill your career.
Disclaimer: This is not legal advice. PRO policies and registration requirements may vary and change. Verify current guidelines directly with your PRO.
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