The writers’ strike is over. It’s just the latest in a long line of efforts to make certain creative artists received fair compensation.
The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers was founded [on this date] in New York City in 1914. The founding membership included some of the most popular musicians of the day, including Irving Berlin, John Philip Sousa, and the composer Victor Herbert. The group was formed to protect intellectual property and help musically inclined writers make a living off their art. Technically, there were already laws on the books that should have done this, but many of them weren’t being enforced.
According to ASCAP lore, it was Victor Herbert who realized what a problem enforcement had become when he walked into a hotel one evening and heard one of his own songs being played. Knowing he hadn’t given permission or been paid for his music, Herbert set out to create a union that would stand up for the rights of musicians and composers.
The first office of the ASCAP was little more than a closet in New York’s Fulton Theater Building. The office furniture consisted of a table and a single, broken chair. Today, the organization has more than 300,000 members, and it collects and distributes millions in royalties.