ASCAP — The Songwriter's Voice

Marilyn Bergman, President and Chairman of the Board

Since the inception of ASCAP more than nine decades ago, the Society's primary goal has been to protect the rights of its songwriter and composer members — in the marketplace, in the courts and in the halls of Congress. Legislative challenges to our rights have arisen many times in our history. There have always been powerful interests that will never be happy paying copyright owners for the right to use music. They often look to Congress in hopes that their obligations to music creators will be legislated away. By the same token, we view Congress as a legislative guarantor that our copyrights will be strengthened, not diminished.

There have been difficult struggles on a great many issues over the years — from the licensing of jukeboxes to copyright term extension to source licensing in music created for television, and more. ASCAP members have frequently made the journey to Washington to either testify before Congressional committees or walk the halls — from Victor Herbert, John Philip Sousa and Irving Berlin in ASCAP's early days to Smokey Robinson and Lyle Lovett in more recent years. In addition, we have found that nothing speaks better for the songwriting community than the melodies and lyrics they have created. Over the past two decades we have organized a number of evenings aimed at bringing live performances of our members' music to Senators, Representatives and their staff members. These Songwriter Nights on Capitol Hill, including the recent ASCAP tribute to Stevie Wonder, have helped bring home the message that copyrighted music is a vital part of our nation's culture and economy.

This special edition of Playback is a celebration in words and pictures of our tribute to Stevie Wonder on Capitol Hill. We look forward to many more ASCAP Songwriter Nights in the coming years.