Germany’s GEMA launches ‘AI Charter’ laying out legal and ethical principles for artificial intelligence in music

Earlier this fall, German performing rights collection society and licensing body GEMA introduced a licensing model for AI developers, making it the first collection society to establish a licensing-based policy to address the use of copyrighted music in training AI.

Now, the collection organization is taking another step in developing AI policy, unveiling an “AI charter” meant to guide the use of AI technology in music, and assert the rights of human creators in developing AI-driven music-making technology.

“Generative AI provides opportunities but also carries significant risks for the rights and livelihoods of creators,” GEMA CEO Dr. Tobias Holzmüller said in a statement.

“In our understanding, human creativity is at the center and the use of musical works created by people in the context of generative AI must be dealt with in a transparent manner and must attract fair pay. This is what we highlight with our AI charter.”

The first of the AI charter’s 10 principles asserts that “the development of generative AI is obligated to the well-being of people,” and AI must “not displace or drive out human creativity, especially not by exploiting pre-existing creative work.”

Other points include protecting intellectual property rights, ensuring the right to a “fair remuneration model” for all creators whose works are used in AI, and requiring AI developers to be transparent.

In response to the lobbying power of the tech firms driving AI development, the charter also calls for “negotiations at eye level” between rights holders and AI developers. It also calls for respecting diversity and “respecting moral rights” such as the right to one’s voice and likeness.

“We creatives have frustratingly become accustomed to the fact that every few years, business models worth billions come onto the market that use our works without allowing us to participate in the value creation,” said Dr. Ralf Weigand, Chairman of the GEMA Supervisory Board.

“In the high-speed development in connection with generative AI, it is therefore all the more important to remember why a fair remuneration for creatives is inevitable and on what basis AI services are able to generate their output in the first place: it is the results of human creativity!”

“The use of musical works created by people in the context of generative AI must be dealt with in a transparent manner and must attract fair pay.”

Dr. Tobias Holzmüller, GEMA

Weigand expressed concern about the way AI has been developed thus far, which he says is leading to a situation where those who made the technology possible (i.e., musical creators) are the first to lose out.

“Unfortunately, the creative minds were not involved at an early stage again. Instead, we were presented with a fait accompli in which our works were used massively for training purposes over a period of years. If generative AI is to be an overall enrichment, then it should not be at the expense of the creators.”

GEMA, which represents 95,000 composers, lyricists, and music publishers in Germany, and some 2 million rights holders worldwide, is calling for a public discussion about the responsible development of generative AI.

“The profound effect on economy, culture and society is already clearly noticeable today,” Holzmüller added.

He said the charter is aimed at “creating the prerequisites for real innovation and sustainability” in AI by putting the individual, and not technology, at the center.

It’s also meant to spark “a wide-ranging dialogue in society, both about how to deal with generative AI in a responsible manner and about the role of human creativity in a digitalized world,” Holzmüller said.

“If generative AI is to be an overall enrichment, then it should not be at the expense of the creators.”

Dr. Ralf Weigand, GEMA

GEMA’s AI charter comes amid a growing number of declarations, manifestos, and new organizations aimed at addressing the role of human creators in the age of AI.

Last month, thousands of creators and businesses in the creative arts signed on to the Statement on AI Training, which declares: “The unlicensed use of creative works for training generative AI is a major, unjust threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works, and must not be permitted.”

The statement was crafted by Ed Newton-Rex, the former head of audio at Stability AI who established Fairly Trained, a non-profit organization that licenses tech companies based on their respect for creators’ copyrights in training AI models.

Among signatories of the Statement on AI Training are streaming service Deezer and Universal Music Group (UMG).

UMG also teamed up with instrument maker Roland earlier this year on Principles of Music Creation With AI, which is “a series of clarifying statements relating to the responsible use of AI in music creation.” Among its core principles are that “human-created works must be respected and protected,” and that “transparency is essential to responsible and trustworthy AI.”

That followed last year’s launch of the Human Artistry Campaign, a group devoted to ensuring that AI is used in ways that support human creativity. Among the group’s initial members were The Recording Academy and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).Music Business Worldwide

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