The legendary Paul McCartney is urging the UK government not to change copyright laws, which he says could allow artificial intelligence (AI) companies to steal from artists.
The UK government is exploring the possibility of allowing tech companies to use copyrighted material to train their artificial intelligence models, unless the creators explicitly object.
Paul McCartney told the BBC it would make it harder for artists, particularly emerging artists, to maintain control of their work and would undermine British creativity.
“You have young boys, girls who come up and write a beautiful song, but they don’t own the song […] and anyone who wants it could take it away from them,” the 82-year-old famous Beatles member said in an interview to be broadcast on Sunday and an excerpt of which was broadcast by the BBC on Saturday.
“The truth is the money is going somewhere. When it hits the streaming platforms, someone receives it and it should be the person who created it. It shouldn’t be a tech giant somewhere. »
-Keith Starmer’s Labor Party government in the United Kingdom has said it wants to make the country a world leader in AI. In December, the Starmer government announced a consultation on how copyright can “enable creators and rights holders to exercise control over the use of their works for AI training and to obtain remuneration for this use.
Publishers, artists’ organizations and media companies, including The Associated Press, have banded together as the Creative Rights in AI Coalition to oppose the weakening of copyright protections .
“We are the citizens, you are the government. You are supposed to protect us. It’s your job,” Paul McCartney said. “So if you pass a bill, make sure you protect artists and their industry, otherwise you won’t have their support.”
