UK artists protest planned AI changes in copyright laws with open letter and silent album

Elton John, Paul McCartney and The Who‘s Pete Townshend are among the artists who’ve signed an open letter published in The Times calling out plans to change U.K. copyright laws to benefit AI companies.

The letter contends that the planned changes “represent a wholesale giveaway of rights and income from the U.K. creative sectors to big tech.” As The Times notes, the changes would allow these companies to “use copyrighted works to train their AI software without permission unless the owner opts out.”

Other artists who’ve signed the letter include Sting, Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon, Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa.

Along with the letter, a group of 1,000 musicians has released a silent album to Spotify, titled Is This What We Want?, in protest of the possible AI changes.

The album features 12 tracks with recordings of sound from empty studios and venues, representing what the artists believe could happen if the copyright changes go through. The song titles spell out a message that reads, “The British government must not legalise music theft to benefit AI companies.”

Artists lending their name to the album include Bush, The Clash, Blur‘s Damon Albarn, Kate Bush, Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien, Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam, Tori Amos and Annie Lennox.

Proceeds from the album will be donated to the charity Help Musicians.

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