New Delhi: Over 1,000 musicians in the UK have released a silent album in protest of proposed changes to Britain’s copyright laws that would allow AI models to train on their work without artists having adequate say over it.
The album, titled Is This What We Want?, features 12 tracks that combine to form the sentence: “The British government must not legalise music theft to benefit AI companies”.
In the UK, the creators of any artistic work, including music, have control over how their work is used. The proposed changes would allow tech firms to train their AI models on any material to which they have lawful access and creators would be required to actively opt out to prevent their work from being used.
The changes have drawn widespread criticism from artists, who allege that these changes would reverse the principle of copyright law, which grants exclusive control to creators for their work, Reuters reported.
The album features recording of empty spaces and studios to allude to the potential impact of the proposed changes on artists’ lives.
Government response to the album
An unnamed spokesperson from the UK government told Reuters that UK’s existing copyright laws were holding back the AI sector from “realising their full potential.”
“We have engaged extensively with these sectors throughout and will continue to do so. No decisions have been taken,” the spokesperson said, adding that the government’s proposals will be set out in due course.
Annie Lennox, Billy Ocean, Hans Zimmer, Tori Amos and The Clash are among the musicians urging the government to review its plans.
“The government’s proposal would hand the life’s work of the country’s musicians to AI companies, for free, letting those companies exploit musicians’ work to outcompete them,” said organiser Ed Newton-Rex, the founder of Fairly Trained, a non-profit that certifies generative AI companies for fairer training data practices.
“The UK can be leaders in AI without throwing our world-leading creative industries under the bus.”
