There is nothing to bat for i.e. no royalties until the song has been sold. No song can be sold in significant number until it has been recorded by a famous ar

There is nothing to bat for i.e. no royalties until the song has been sold. No song can be sold in significant number until it has been recorded by a famous artist backed by a well resourced record company. By the time a song has been sold in significant numbers, it is too late for ASCAP or the Songwriters Guild to act, because the song has already been credited to an artist who didn't actually write it, because the songwriter signed away his or her rights in order to bootstrap the song. You may think "that's not fair", and you may be right, but the difficulty is that a famous artist can make as much money selling a song that is not quite as good as a "great" song, and the supply of OK songs far exceeds the supply of "great" songs. What even is a "great" song? It is difficult to tell, and even more difficult to prove, until it has been recorded by a "great" artist, and bought by millions of fans of said artist. By that point, a contract exists crediting the "great" artist with writing or co-writing the song. This contract can be defended in a court of law by an ordinary lawyer working for a "great" record company, or better still, by a "great" lawyer working for a "great" record company. When it comes to greatness, the medium is the message.