LONDON (AP) — Paul McCartney has urged the British government to reconsider its plan to change copyright laws, saying it could lead to tech giants profiting off artists’ work without their permission.
The government is currently consulting on whether to allow tech companies to use copyrighted material to train artificial intelligence models, unless creators explicitly opt out. McCartney, a former Beatle, fears this could result in artists losing control over their work and struggling to make a living.
“It’s like if you wrote a beautiful song and someone just comes along and steals it,” he said in an interview with the BBC. “The truth is, the money’s going somewhere. When it gets on the streaming platforms, somebody is getting it, and it should be the person who created it.”
McCartney’s concerns have been echoed by the Creative Rights in AI Coalition, a group of publishers, artists’ organizations, and media companies, including The Associated Press, which are opposed to weakening copyright protections.
“We’re the people, you’re the government. You’re supposed to protect us. That’s your job,” McCartney said. “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 Labour Party government has announced plans to make the UK a world leader in AI, but McCartney believes that without proper protection of artists’ rights, the industry will suffer.
“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,” he said.
The government is expected to respond to the consultation in the coming months.
