Musicians' Union General Secretary Naomi Pohl raised AI concerns with the Prime Minister as part of a TULO delegation of union general secretaries. Photo credit: Naomi Pohl.
Musicians’ Union General Secretary Naomi Pohl was able to raise the issues that AI poses to musicians’ rights and careers with the Prime Minister on the day that the Government made a statement confirming that it would change its plans on AI.
The MU also coordinated a letter to the PM, which was signed by all of the Labour affiliated General Secretaries.
Copyright protections for musicians must go further
Although the MU welcomes the fact that the Government has listened to creators and musicians and has backed away from an opt-out system, we still want to see copyright strengthened so that our members can be fairly remunerated from the exploitation of their works by AI.
Naomi was quoted in BBC news online as saying:
“We welcome the Government’s continued engagement on the subject of AI. The MU is very clear, however, that change is needed - copyright law must keep pace with technological changes. The majority of the responses to the Government’s consultation agreed with us that copyright should be strengthened.
“The market cannot be left to its own devices, issuing licences without Government oversight. We know from music streaming that this leads to creators and performers not being paid fairly. We want collective licensing schemes, as these will ensure revenue flows to individual creators and performers – not just major rightsholders.’
“Smaller, independent creators should not be overlooked”
We also welcome the statement made by Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee Dame Caroline Dinenage MP:
“The UK can both preserve its gold standard copyright regime and enable its tech sector to grow. The early signs of licensing agreements between rights holders and AI companies are encouraging but are a sign that in the absence of any regulation, industry has been left to resolve this by itself.
“The Government is right to recognise that smaller, independent creators should not be overlooked as these partnerships take shape. Everyone who creates for a living, across our world-leading art, literature, music, and film and television sectors, should be fairly compensated for the use of their work and have control over how it is used.”
The MU will continue to lobby government
The Government's original position on AI placed the burden on individual music creators to ‘opt out’ of the use of copyrighted work for AI training, still leaving them vulnerable to exploitation. However, the government's new plan is still unclear, saying it "no longer has a preferred option" for what to do next.
The MU will continue working closely with the Government to push for a new approach that prioritises music creators and gives them a real say over how their work and data are used.
Support our campaign to change AI law
We’re calling on the Government to introduce legislation to protect musicians and creators, ensuring consent, fair remuneration, labelling and other key measures. We are also asking the Government to introduce personality and image rights.
Use our template letter and ask your MP to support our campaign.