GUEST SPEAKER:  Bart Herbison 

Bart Herbison is Executive Director of the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) with 100 domestic and international chapters.  NSAI is the world’s largest not-for-profit trade organization dedicated to the songwriting profession. Established in 1967, the organization’s membership of more than 5,000 spans the United States and may other countries.  NSAI is dedicated to protecting songwriter’s rights and serves aspiring and professional songwriters in all genres of music.

Under Herbison’s leadership NSAI gained prominence in the national legislative arena. Accomplishments include:

• Adoption of the historic “Music Modernization Act” in 2018, the most important copyright reform bill for American songwriters in the modern era of music. Creation of the “Mechanical Licensing Collective” (MLC) in 2019.
• Passage of the landmark “Songwriters Capital Gains Tax Equity Act” in 2006.
• Prevailing in the Copyright Royalty Board trials that in 2008-09 that established songwriters be paid a percentage rate for subscription music services and in 2018 saw the largest mechanical royalty increase for songwriters in history of more than 44%.
• Participation in the U.S. Supreme Court cases including Eldred vs. Ashcroft upholding Congress’s authority to grant an additional twenty years on the length of American copyrights and the landmark “Grokster” case which determined peer-to-peer services have liability when distributing copyrighted material.
• Creation of the first-ever Group Copyright Infringement Insurance for songwriters and music publishers.
• Purchase of the “Music Mill” studios as NSAI headquarters in 2005.
• Acquisition of the world-famous “Bluebird Café” in 2008.

CSoS Members must be in good standing and registered prior to the meeting in order to grant access.  Contact  Society Administrator Janice Bane (jbane@barbershop.org) for more information or assistance with your registration.