The US Copyright Office has identified four key topics for debate as it opened up a public consultation about all the copyright issues raised by artificial intelligence and especially generative AI. It is now inviting any interested parties to submit their opinions and positions.
The American music industry is sure to have lots of opinions to share. There has, of course, been lots of debate in recent months within the music community about the challenges and opportunities posed by AI, including the AI models that generate music.
For the music industry at large, the first of the four topics identified by the Copyright Office is probably the priority. That relates to when an AI company uses existing copyright-protected works – for example songs and recordings – to train its generative AI models.
The music industry – and other copyright industries – are adamant that any such training requires consent from the copyright owner and, without that consent, the AI company is liable for copyright infringement. But not all AI companies agree.
Another big debate within the music community – and especially among music-makers – relates to the AI models that can imitate the voice or likeness of established artists. Another complex issue that is yet to see a widespread consensus.
The other two topics identified by the Copyright Office relate to the copyright status of AI-generated works and who might be liable if an AI model generates content that arguably infringes copyright in one way or another.
The Copyright Office has already given quite a lot of consideration as to whether works generated by AI should enjoy copyright protection, because in the US you need to register works to get full protection under copyright law, and the Office has had to decide whether to allow AI-generated works to be registered.
Its position to date has generally been that works entirely generated by AI do not enjoy copyright protection and that position was backed by a US court earlier this month.
As an interested party you have until October 18th to send in your written submissions.
Why Should YOU Care?
For YOUR Label – The future surrounding Gen AI laws within the music industry is very clearly still up in the air, but this is an encouraging move from the US Copyright Office. Allowing voices from across the industry to input their expert advice should help shape laws to protect artists and labels moving forward, so have your say in the matter!
For YOUR Industry – The move to lean into the wider industry for advice on the issues surrounding Gen AI is an encouraging one from the US Copyright Office. It will be important for them to listen to advice from labels of all sizes though, but only time will tell if they show a bias towards the major labels advice, shaping laws around the few instead of the many. For now though make the most of the opportunity to have your labels voice heard alongside the majors.