Performing Arts Leaders Express Copyright Concerns Over UK Government’s AI Plans
More than 30 prominent figures from the UK’s performing arts sector, including leaders from the National Theatre, Opera North, and the Royal Albert Hall, have voiced their concerns regarding the government’s intentions to permit artificial intelligence companies to utilize artists’ work without obtaining permission.
The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, whose chief executive was one of 35 signatories to the statement on artificial intelligence.
In a public statement, these leaders expressed their anxieties, highlighting the “fragile ecosystem” that underpins the performing arts and is dependent on the livelihoods of freelance creatives who rely on copyright protections.
The statement was signed by 35 individuals, including the chief executives of Sadler’s Wells dance theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and Leeds Playhouse. These signatories joined a growing chorus of voices from the creative industries who are worried about the government’s plans.
“We join with many in the creative community in expressing our concern about the government’s plans to diminish creative copyright by giving an exemption to AI companies,” the statement read. “Our community of highly skilled creative workers depend on a fragile ecosystem of freelance creatives, many of whom rely on copyright to sustain their practice, and most of whom have spent many decades honing their craft.”
The statement made clear that the signatories appreciated the advancements in technology and were “participants” in innovation. However, they also stated that the government’s proposals risk damaging their ability to participate in the development and deployment of AI.
The arts leaders are asking the government to uphold a creative professional’s automatic right to their work. They suggest the government should reconsider its plan to give AI companies broad access to creative work unless the copyright holders choose to opt-out. Critics of the opt-out plan have called it unfair and unworkable.
The performing arts leaders have also requested that the government impose stringent transparency requirements on AI companies. They want detailed information about which copyrighted materials were used in their models, and how they were acquired. The government has proposed transparency requirements in its copyright consultation.
“The sheer wonderment of world-class music, drama, dance and opera is essential to the joy of being human. We urge the government to support the human creative endeavour at its heart,” the performing arts leaders stated.
The government’s proposals have already sparked criticism from leading figures within the UK’s creative industries, including Sir Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, and Richard Osman.
Generative AI models, used by tools like the ChatGPT chatbot, are trained on vast datasets of information, making their source material crucial to their functionality. A main source for this material on the open web contains a wide array of data, from Wikipedia content to newspaper articles and online book archives.
A government spokesperson stated that the existing situation in the relationship between AI and copyright was “holding back the creative industries, media and AI sector from realising their full potential — and that cannot continue.” They added that the government’s new approach “protects the interests of both AI developers and rights holders and delivers a solution which allows both to thrive.”
