More than 1,000 musicians have come together to release a collaborative “empty” album in protest against proposed changes to UK copyright law. Under the new rules, companies will be allowed to use artists’ work to train artificial intelligence without their permission. About this informs TechSpot.
“The government’s proposal would hand over the lifetime work of the nation’s musicians to AI companies for free, allowing those companies to use the work of musicians to outperform their competition.” – noted the initiator of the project, Ed Newton-Rex, a British composer and former head of an AI company.
Album “IsThis What We Want?” consists of recordings of empty studios and concert venues. It was created by musicians such as Tori Amos, Billy Ocean, TheClash, Damon Albarn (Blur/Gorillaz) and Annie Lennox. The organizers emphasize that the release is a symbolic gesture that demonstrates how the proposed changes can affect the creativity and well-being of artists.
The album is now available on Spotify, and all proceeds will go to Help Musicians, a British charity supporting musicians. In response to the protest, a government spokesman said that current copyright and AI laws were limiting the ability of the “creative industries, media and technology sectors” to realize their full potential.
