LONDON (AP) 鈥� A new album called 鈥淚s This What We Want?鈥� features a stellar list of more than 1,000 musicians 鈥� and the sound of silence.
With contributions from artists including Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, Cat Stevens and Damon Albarn, the album was released Tuesday to protest proposed British changes to laws that will erode their creative control.
The U.K. government is consulting on whether to let tech firms use copyrighted material to help train AI models unless the creators explicitly opt out.
Critics of the idea fear that will make it harder for artists to retain control of their work and will undermine Britain鈥檚 creative industries. Elton John and Paul McCartney are among those who have spoken out against the plan.
The protest album features recordings of empty studios and performance spaces, to show what they fear will be the fate of creative venues if the plan goes through. The titles of the 12 tracks spell out: 鈥淭he British government must not legalize music theft to benefit AI companies.鈥�
Profits will be donated to the musicians鈥� charity Help Musicians.
鈥淭he government鈥檚 proposal would hand the life鈥檚 work of the country鈥檚 musicians to AI companies, for free, letting those companies exploit musicians鈥� work to outcompete them,鈥� said composer and AI developer Ed Newton-Rex, who organized the album.
鈥淚t is a plan that would not only be disastrous for musicians, but that is totally unnecessary,鈥� Newton-Rex said. 鈥淭he U.K. can be leaders in AI without throwing our world-leading creative industries under the bus.鈥�
Britain鈥檚 center-left says it wants to make the U.K. a world leader in AI. In December, it announced a consultation into how copyright law can 鈥渆nable creators and right holders to exercise control over, and seek remuneration for, the use of their works for AI training鈥� while also ensuring 鈥淎I developers have easy access to a broad range of high-quality creative content.鈥� The consultation closes on Tuesday.
Publishers, artists鈥� organizations and media companies, including The Associated Press, have banded together as the Creative Rights in AI Coalition to oppose weakening copyright protections.
Several U.K. newspapers ran wraparounds over their front pages on Tuesday, criticizing the government consultation and saying: 鈥淟et鈥檚 protect the creative industries 鈥� it鈥檚 only fair.鈥�
Jill Lawless, The Associated Press
