Paul McCartney has criticised proposed changes to copyright law, saying if it goes ahead it will allow AI to rip off artists and result in a “loss of creativity”.
The UK government is currently considering altering the copyright law to allow AI developers use of creators’ content on the internet if they are data or text mining to help develop their models.
The proposals would give artists or creators a “rights reservation” to opt out, but has been criticised by many who believe it would be impossible for an individual to notify thousands of different AI service providers, or to monitor what has happened to their work across the entire internet.
Now, the former Beatle has spoken out against the proposed changes, saying they could remove the monetary incentive for artists to create work and cause a “loss of creativity”.
“When we were kids in Liverpool, we found a job that we loved, but it also paid the bills,” he said during an interview on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. “You get young guys, girls, coming up, and they write a beautiful song, and they don’t own it, and they don’t have anything to do with it. And anyone who wants can just rip it off.”
“The truth is, the money’s going somewhere… Somebody’s getting paid, so why shouldn’t it be the guy who sat down and wrote Yesterday?”
He went on to urge the government to reconsider the changes, saying: “We’re the people, you’re the government! You’re supposed to protect us. That’s your job.
“So you know, if you’re putting through a bill, make sure you protect the creative thinkers, the creative artists, or you’re not going to have them.”
The Beatles previously used the technology to restore John Lennon‘s vocals on ‘Now And Then’ the band’s “final” song released in 2023. The AI used on the track was Analytic, rather than Generative, meaning it wasn’t used to create something entirely new but rather to aid in the restoration of previously existing material.
Generative AI programmes mine from vast amounts of data like text, images, or music available online to generate new content which feels like it has been made by a human.
The issue of AI being used in music has been a growing topic of discussion in recent times, and in April last year Billie Eilish, Robert Smith, Stevie Wonder and Nicki Minaj were named as just a handful of artists who had signed an open letter warning against the “predatory” use of AI in music.
Other musicians who signed the document included Katy Perry, Sam Smith, Kim Petras, R.E.M., Jon Bon Jovi, Mumford & Sons, Imagine Dragons, d4vd, Jon Batiste, Finneas, Fletcher, Pearl Jam, J Balvin, Jonas Brothers, Noah Kahan, Norah Jones, Yard Act, The Last Dinner Party, Zayn Malik, Smokey Robinson, Sheryl Crow, Sigrid, the estates of Bob Marley and Frank Sinatra, BTS‘ label HYBE and others.
In November 2023, it was announced that the Council of Music Makers (CMM) had shared an open letter about the “profoundly tone-deaf” government hearing on the impact of AI. Before then, UK Music Interim Chief Executive Tom Kiehl urged then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to respond to the music industry’s concerns around artificial intelligence by introducing some form of legal protection around the developing technology.
One of the most concerning statistics regarding AI came in December when it was estimated that people working in music were likely to lose a quarter of their income to Artificial Intelligence over the next four years.
Without intervention from policymakers, those working in music are predicted to see more than a 20 per cent decline in their income, while AI developers in the music industry are set to gain £3.3billion (up from £0.08billion in 2023), per The Guardian.
The annual market for generative AI is currently £2.5billion, which is predicted to rise to £52.8billion by 2028.
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