Although some AI firms have since started making deals to license content, many existing AI models have been trained using data from the public internet, including from news and other publishing websites, which has led to many from that sector also speaking out against the proposed changes to the law.
Ed Newton-Rex, the organiser of the album, said: “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.
“We already contribute £11 billion to the UK economy and are central to creative industries’ growth and UK research and development and are early adopters of AI technology to equip the readers and learners of the future.
More than 1,000 musicians, including Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, and Damon Albarn, have united to release a silent album in protest against proposed changes to copyright law concerning artificial intelligence (AI).
The proposed changes would create a copyright exemption for AI training, allowing tech firms to use copyrighted material without a license, requiring creators to opt out to prevent their work from being used.
