Up to 1960s, Nashville's songwriting community consisted of only a few dozen writers who received little credit for their achievements and whose royalty compensation was small, largely because of an antiquated copyright law.
The meeting attracted some 40 songwriters, including Liz and Casey Anderson ("The Fugitive"), Felice and Boudleaux Bryant ("Wake Up Little Susie"), Kris Kristofferson ("Me And Bobby McGee") and Marijohn Wilkin ("One Day At A Time").
These 40 became the founding membership of NSAI and began spending countless hours around Marijohn's kitchen table brainstorming, discussing and refining ideas.
Within a year, the Nashville Songwriters Association was chartered by the state of Tennessee as a not-for-profit trade association, and from that moment, NSAI went on by helping to revise antiquated copyright laws and to establish new intellectual property protection in the digital age, by establishing a network of over 90 songwriter workshops to provide local instruction at home and abroad, and by conducting several educational conferences and awards shows each year.
Eldred vs. Ashcroft — NSAI filed an "amicus brief" with the United States Supreme Court in a case that determined how long you and your heirs will own your copyrights.