Sony Music Group has despatched letters to greater than 700 tech corporations and music streaming companies to warn them to not use its music to coach AI with out express permission. The letter, which was obtained by TechCrunch, says Sony Music has “purpose to imagine” that the recipients of the letter “might have already got made unauthorized makes use of” of its content material.
Sony Music stated that whereas it acknowledges the “important potential” of AI, “unauthorized use of SMG Content material within the coaching, growth or commercialization of AI programs” deprives it and its artists of management and “acceptable compensation.”
The corporate’s portfolio of artists consists of quite a few notable artists like Harry Types, Beyoncé, Adele and Celine Dion.
Sony Music is searching for to guard its mental property, which incorporates audio and audiovisual recordings, cowl paintings, metadata, lyrics and extra. The corporate has not disclosed which 700 corporations it’s sending the letter to.
“We assist artists and songwriters taking the lead in embracing new applied sciences in assist of their artwork,” Sony Music stated in a statement. “Evolutions in know-how have often shifted the course of inventive industries. AI will doubtless proceed that long-standing pattern. Nonetheless, that innovation should make sure that songwriters’ and recording artists’ rights, together with copyrights, are revered.”
The letter asks recipients to element which of Sony Music’s songs had been used to coach AI programs, how the songs had been accessed, what number of copies had been made and if any copies nonetheless exist, and why copies existed within the first place.
Sony Music has given recipients of the letter a deadline to reply, noting that it’ll implement its copyright to the “fullest extent permitted by relevant regulation in all jurisdictions.”
The transfer comes as copyright infringement is turning into a big problem with the rise of generative AI, as streaming companies like Spotify are flooded with AI-generated music. Even artists are dabbling with AI, as Drake confronted criticism after deepfaking the late rapper Tupac earlier this month.
Final month, California Democratic Consultant Adam Schiff introduced new legislation within the U.S. Home of Representatives that may, if handed, pressure AI corporations to reveal which copyrighted songs they used to coach AI.
In March, Tennessee turned the primary U.S. state to protect artists against AI after Governor Invoice Lee signed the Making certain Likeness Voice and Picture Safety (ELVIS) Act.