Artificial intelligence firms are allegedly stealing music from songwriters, composers, and artists without permission or payment, according to an investigation by the International Confederation of Music Publishers (ICMP). The ICMP claims that tech companies like Google, Microsoft, Meta, OpenAI, and X are scraping copyright-protected music from millions of sources to train their generative AI systems.
Leaked datasets from US-based music-making apps Udio and Suno demonstrate the illegal scraping of copyright-protected music from YouTube. Examples of AI-generated lyrics that replicate copyrighted songs, such as Bob Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" and Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean", have been identified. In fact, Google's Gemini chatbot admitted that its music generation model MusicLM likely trained on copyright-protected music, which could raise legal concerns.
The use of AI-generated music could displace human lyric writers and undermine existing royalty streams. Tech companies are accused of double standards, demanding prior written permission for others to use their content while scraping music without licenses. The ICMP argues that the European Union's AI Act provides robust protections against fair use claims, but the US has an open question on whether training generative AI models with copyrighted material is infringement or fair use.
The investigation highlights the need for greater transparency and accountability in the use of AI-generated music. As the music industry continues to evolve, it's essential to protect the rights of human creators and ensure that they are fairly compensated for their work. The ICMP's efforts to address these concerns will likely have significant implications for the future of music creation and the role of AI in the industry.
