Some of the UK’s biggest artists, including Mick Jagger, Kate Bush and Paul McCartney, have authored and co-signed a letter to Sir Keir Starmer in a plea for the government to fortify their rights when it comes to AI.
Sir Elton John, another signatory of the letter, stated that recent government proposals to let AI companies train their AI models using artists’ copyright protected work without permission would cause “an artist’s life work to be stolen”. Creative organisations supporting the letter include the News Media Association, which represents companies such as the Guardian Media Group and the Society of London Theatre & UK Theatre.
There have been concerns from a crossbench peer that the working groups enlisted to come up with a solution to this issue have direct interests in US affairs, and warned that if the government backed their current proposal of allowing AI companies to train their models using material protected by copyright without consent then they risk undermining artists’ rights by failing to protect their copyright.
A spokesperson for the UK government has stated since that concerns were being taken seriously, and their focus is on coming up with a reasonable compromise. This is an ongoing matter to monitor closely.
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