Music Publishers Association

The government has issued its long-awaited response to its AI White Paper consultation. As anticipated, the government has shelved its long-awaited code of conduct on the use of copyrighted material in AI training models due to disagreements between industry executives on what a voluntary code of practice should look like. The government is expected to publish a white paper in the coming days that will set out further proposals around AI regulation in the UK.

Responding to the news, Paul Clements, CEO, MPA said:
“We agree with government on its assertion that the creative industries and technology are at their best when they work together. Technology has helped shape the music industry and pioneered new ways of working after all. However, amidst all of our enthusiasm for embracing new technologies, we strongly maintain that an ethical and lawful approach must always be taken.

The music publishing industry has always been keen to work with AI developers, not least to help shape licensing solutions to respect both the sanctity of human art and the principles of intellectual property. Throughout our engagement with government and the IPO, we have maintained that creators and rights holders have the right to decide where and how their music gets used. The large-scale use of copyright-protected content for training AI models risks undermining both the value of UK creators and the UK’s strong copyright framework, unless permissions are sought and granted.

The UK has an incredibly rich cultural heritage, which has produced some of the world’s finest artists, musicians, authors and film-makers. Failure to protect the principles of intellectual property risks selling out our cultural heritage and an industry worth over £108 billion a year, for a slice of the AI pie. As the Lord’s Communication and Digital Committee remarked last week, government cannot ‘sit on its hands while generative AI developers exploit the work of rightsholders’. We are therefore pleased that government is committed to finding a workable solution that prioritises trust and transparency,  and we will work positively with them on this to achieve this outcome.”