LONDON — Sweeping new laws regulating the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in Europe, including controls on the use of copyright-protected music, have been approved by the European Parliament, following intense pressure from both tech and music community.
Members of the European Parliament voted in favor of the EU AI law with a clear majority of 523 votes in favour, 46 against and 49 abstentions. The “world-first” legislation, which was first proposed in April 2021 and covers a wide range of artificial intelligence applications, including biometric surveillance and predictive policing, was provisionally approved in December, but Wednesday's vote formally establishes the passage of in law.
The law imposes certain legal and transparency obligations on technology companies and AI developers operating in Europe, including those working in the creative sector and music businesses. Among them is a key requirement that companies using generative AI or basic AI models, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT or Anthropic's Claude 2, provide detailed summaries of any copyrighted works, including music, that have used to train their systems.
Importantly, the provisions of the Transparency Act apply regardless of when and where in the world a tech company obtained its data. For example, even if an AI developer hacked copyrighted music and/or trained its systems in a non-EU country — or bought datasets outside the 27 member state — as soon as they are used or made available in Europe, the company is required to release a “fairly detailed summary” of all copyrighted music it has used to create AI projects.
There is also a requirement that all training datasets used in production AI music or audiovisual works are watermarked, so there is a traceable path for rights holders to track and block illegal use of their catalog.
In addition, content created by artificial intelligence, as opposed to human works, must be clearly marked as such, and technology companies must ensure that their systems cannot be used to create illegal and infringing content.
Big tech companies that break the rules – which govern all AI applications within the 27-nation EU bloc, including so-called “high-risk” uses – will face fines of up to €35 million, or 7% of global annual turnover. Startups or smaller tech companies will receive corresponding financial penalties.
Speaking ahead of Wednesday's vote, which took place in Strasbourg, co-rapporteur Brando Benifei said the legislation meant “unacceptable AI practices will be banned in Europe and the rights of workers and citizens protected”.
Co-rapporteur Dragos Tudorache called the AI Act “a starting point for a new model of technology-based governance.”
European lawmakers first proposed regulating AI in 2021, though it was the subsequent release of ChatGPT — followed by the high-profile release of “Heart on My Sleeve,” a track that featured artificial intelligence imitations of Drake's vocals and The Weekend, last April — that made many music executives sit up and pay closer attention to the potential impact of technology on the record business.
In response, lobbyists stepped up efforts to persuade lawmakers to add transparency provisions on the use of music in artificial intelligence — a move strongly opposed by the tech industry, which argued that stricter regulations would put Europeans artificial intelligence developers at a competitive disadvantage.
Now that the AI Act has been approved by the European Parliament, the legislation will go through several stages of procedural stamping before being published in the EU's Official Journal — most likely in late April or early May — with its regulations coming into effect 20 days later.
There are, however, tiered exemptions for tech companies to comply with its terms, and some of its provisions don't take full effect for up to two years after its enactment. (Rules governing existing genetic AI models kick in after 12 months, although any new AI companies or models entering the European market after the law comes into force must immediately comply with its regulations).
In response to Wednesday's vote, a coalition of European creative and copyright organisations, including the world trade body for recorded music IFPI and the international music publishing trade group ICMP, issued a joint statement thanking regulators and MEPs for the “essential role they played in support of creators and beneficiaries”.
“While these obligations provide a first step for rights holders to enforce their rights, we call on the European Parliament to continue to support the development of responsible and sustainable AI by ensuring that these important rules are put into practice in a meaningful and effective way” . said the 18 signatories, which also included the trade association of independent European labels IMPALA, the European Authors Society GESAC and CISAC, the international trade organization for copyright collecting societies.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/business/business-news/european-union-ai-legislation-laws-copyrighted-music-passes-1235631846/