The Korea Music Copyright Association (KOMCA) significantly restructured its copyright registration system to flexibly adapt to the growing use of artificial intelligence in music creation.
The restructuring permits the registration of AI-assisted works on the basis of human creators being behind the creative process.
The amended reporting and registration guidelines officially took effect on Monday, indicating a shift from KOMCA’s previous policy that strictly denied AI-assisted music eligibility for copyright registration.
AI-assisted music gets the green light
As stated in the old rules, applicants must validate that their submitted works are created authentically with no use of AI tools.
Any AI involvement detected could result in suspension of royalty payments, removal of the work from its registry and retrieval of already distributed royalties, according to the association.
KOMCA’s driving force for this policy change is the surging use of AI-powered music tools such as Suno for composing, arranging and generating vocals.
Suno advocates AI in its company values as a transformative tool that can broaden and elevate people’s experience in music creation instead of becoming one’s identity.
The evident emergence of these high-tech helping tools prompted Komca to call for a formal framework to manage AI-assisted works.
According to a report from The Korea JoongAng Daily, the new rules seek applicants to inform the association of AI’s involvement in the creation process, as well as the types of tools they used and their personal contributions with full accuracy.
KOMCA stated creators may present other supporting materials to further confirm their works’ authenticity amid AI assistance, the report added.
Examples include the DAW project file, the musical instrument digital interface, sheet music, different versions of the audio, editing histories, lyric or composition notes, prompts and generation logs, the original AI-generated output alongside the final version and records of collaboration with co-creators.
Despite the overwhelming list of requirements, the association assured that no single document is mandatory unless requested.
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Human creativity comes first
The revised guidelines serve as a clear boundary that any music generated through AI prompts – or “one-click composing” in South Korea – is still considered ineligible for copyright registration.
Should applicants falsely claim authorship of AI-generated works, Komca plans to “suspend royalties, recover improperly distributed payments and terminate trust agreements” to prevent abuse of the overhauled system.
It also aims to implement contractual penalties of up to three times the amount of wrongly acquired royalties in situations of intentional misconduct or gross negligence.
“This revision is not intended to provide all the answers to the challenges posed by AI-generated music,” KOMCA Chairman Lee Si-ha was quoted as saying.
“It is the first step toward managing a changing creative landscape within an institutional framework.”
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