The MU is campaigning for consent, labelling and fair remuneration for all human creators for the use of their work to train generative AI models: Shutterstock.
The AfM told a Manhattan federal court that it is taking legal action because the two companies, “have licensed sound recordings on which AFM-represented musicians have worked, without compensation or credit, to two Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) companies.”
“At the same time, they have refused to provide information to the AFM about which recordings and whose work is being licensed. Defendants’ failure to compensate the musicians and provide information violates their collective bargaining agreement with the AFM,” the US musicians’ union continued.
Protecting the future of music
Sharing solidarity from the UK Musicians’ Union, with over 36,000 members, General Secretary Naomi Pohl said: “This is a global fight; unions representing musicians and other creatives must take on major corporations who intend to exploit their rights without consent or compensation.”
“In the UK, major rightsholders are entering into deals granting the right to train AI models on our members' works, recordings and performances, without any transparency or agreement with the UK MU. In most cases, when our members entered into agreements or took part in recording sessions, they had no expectation that they could be used to train AI and generate music that will compete against their own. That rightsholders believe they can enter into deals without further negotiation with us, unfortunately shows their lack of respect for the human creators and performers they claim to 'represent'.
“When labels' rights are exploited without their consent or negotiated compensation, they will fight tooth and nail in the courts. However, they don't expect us to do the same when our members' rights are infringed,” she added.
Copyright law must keep pace with technological change
The MU is campaigning for consent, labelling and fair remuneration for all human creators for the use of their work to train generative AI models.
“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,” Naomi told BBC News earlier this year.
Alongside this, the MU is campaigning for new and updated publicity, personality and personal data rights so that individuals' image and personal data can’t be exploited by AI without their consent.
Support the campaign to strengthen copyright law and regulate AI-generated music