# 119-hr-9253: Protect Working Musicians Act of 2026

119-hr-9253, Protect Working Musicians Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Ross, Deborah K. [D-NC-2] (D-NC); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-11-03).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9253
- As of: 2026-11-03
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-9253
- Congress: 119
- Title: Protect Working Musicians Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-06-10
- Sponsor: Rep. Ross, Deborah K. [D-NC-2] (D-NC)
- Cosponsors: 9
- Policy area: Commerce
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-11-03

## Summary

**collective negotiation safe harbor for Independent Music Creator Owners (IMCOs).** This bill would let qualifying creators negotiate together with dominant online music platforms and developers of generative artificial intelligence about licensing and use terms.

## Cosponsors (9)

- Rep. Sherman, Brad [D-CA-32] (D-CA), 2026-10-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Simon, Lateefah [D-CA-12] (D-CA), 2026-10-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Fields, Cleo [D-LA-6] (D-LA), 2026-10-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Casar, Greg [D-TX-35] (D-TX), 2026-11-02T00:00:00.000Z
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC), 2026-10-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9] (D-TN), 2026-06-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Doggett, Lloyd [D-TX-37] (D-TX), 2026-06-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Goldman, Daniel S. [D-NY-10] (D-NY), 2026-06-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Elfreth, Sarah [D-MD-3] (D-MD), 2026-09-02T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Safe Harbor for Small Creators: benefit, medium. If enacted, qualifying independent music copyright owners would be able to negotiate together with big music platforms or AI companies without antitrust risk. You would qualify if you own one or more sound recordings or musical works and earned less than $1,000,000 in licensing revenue last year or…
- Which Platforms and AI Are Covered: benefit, low. If enacted, a "Dominant Online Music Distribution Platform" would mean a listening app or website that gets more than $100 million a year from distributing music and is not eligible for the license in 17 U.S.C. §114(d)(2). The bill would define "generative artificial intelligence" as AI that can cr…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act
- 119-hr-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act
- 119-hr-2086: Rights for the TSA Workforce Act
- 119-hr-5390: FAMILY Act
- 119-hr-15: Equality Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-9253 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/9253)

## Related
- [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877)
- [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973)
- [119-hr-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-51)
- [119-hr-2086: Rights for the TSA Workforce Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2086)
- [119-hr-5390: FAMILY Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5390)
- [119-hr-15: Equality Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-15)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9253 (as of 2026-11-03).