The NMPA lobbies federal legislators and regulators on behalf of music publishers and crafted guidelines for the Copyright Act of 1976.

[8] In September 2001, the NMPA reached a settlement with Napster, turning the company into a fee-based service with publishers licensing music to the users.

[11][12] Along with the Music Publishers Association (MPA), the NMPA has been responsible for taking many free guitar tablature web sites offline.

NMPA President David Israelite asserted that "[u]nauthorised use of lyrics and tablature deprives the songwriter of the ability to make a living, and is no different than stealing".

[14] In 2010, the NMPA represented EMI, Sony/ATV, Universal and Warner/Chappell, Bug, MPL Communications, Peermusic and the Richmond Organization in a lawsuit against LimeWire.