US Copyright Office opens inquiry into streaming fraud and AI music
The US Copyright Office has opened a formal public inquiry into fraud on music streaming services. Its notice of inquiry was published in the Federal Register on October 7. It asks how fake streams work, what they cost, and what artificial intelligence has to do with them.
Streaming fraud, also called artificial streaming, means generating fake plays to divert royalties, the small per-play payments that flow to rights holders. The Office wants evidence on how that behaviour is organised. It also wants detail on its economic impact across the industry.
Written comments are due by November 23. Reply comments, which answer points raised in the first round, are due by December 21. The timetable was announced by the Office in NewsNet Issue 1095, according to Music Business Worldwide.
The inquiry follows a request from US Representative Scott Fitzgerald of Wisconsin's 5th District. Fitzgerald sits on the House Judiciary Committee. His letter to the Office, dated May 21, asked it to examine the effects of AI in music streaming fraud.
The notice arrived a day after a North Carolina man was sentenced to 18 months in prison over a bot-streaming scheme built around AI-generated songs. The money was real. The listeners were not.
Michael Smith, 52, of Cornelius, flooded streaming platforms with thousands of computer-made tracks and then boosted them with automated accounts, or bots, according to The Guardian. He pleaded guilty in March to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York had first charged him in September 2024, according to the US Attorney's Office.
The Copyright Office notice, dated October 5, says Smith fraudulently collected some $10 million in royalties. That is the figure alleged at his 2024 indictment. The Federal Register lists the action as Streaming Fraud, with public-inspection file number 2026-20537, issued in response to a congressional request.
What makes this stand out for ordinary listeners is the shared pot. Streaming royalties are divided among the recordings people actually play. Fake plays take a cut before genuine streams are counted. For working artists and crews, that cut can mean lost income.
