Dua Lipa, Sir Elton John, Sir Ian McKellen and Florence Welch are on the list of stars asking the British Prime Minister for legal protection from artificial intelligence (AI), the BBC reports.
A letter from more than 400 British musicians, writers and other artists to Sir Keir Starmer says that failing to provide them with this protection would mean they are “giving away” their work to tech firms.
At risk, they write, is “Britain’s position as a creative power.”
They want the prime minister to support an amendment to the Data Use and Access Act that would require developers to respect copyright owners when using their material to train AI models.
A government spokesman said a package of measures was being considered “which we hope will work across both sectors” and that “no changes will be considered unless we are fully satisfied that they are in the best interests of creators.”
Other signatories include author Kazuo Ishiguro, playwright David Hare, singers Kate Bush and Robbie Williams, as well as Coldplay, Tom Stoppard and Richard Curtis.
Sir Paul McCartney, who told the BBC in January that he was concerned that AI would steal artwork, also signed.
The signatories say their concerns can be met if the Government supports an amendment proposed by Baroness Biban Kidron ahead of a key vote in the House of Lords on Monday.
That amendment, they say, would “enable both programmers and AI creators to develop licensing regimes that will allow human-created content to survive.”
However, not everyone agrees with the artist’s approach.
Julia Willems, co-founder of the think tank Centre for British Progress, told the BBC that such proposals could hinder the strengthening of the UK, and “would not prevent foreign companies from using content from British creative industries”.
“A restrictive copyright regime would hinder the development of artificial intelligence, chill domestic innovation and directly harm the UK economy,” she said.
There is growing concern among artists about the inclusion of their works and copyrighted material in data used to develop generative AI systems.
These systems, which can produce new content in response to simple text queries, are becoming increasingly popular and accessible to consumers.
But their capabilities are accompanied by concerns and criticism over data usage and high demand for electricity.
In February, artists including Annie Lennox and Damon Albarn released a “silent album” in protest of government changes to copyright laws.
The government has consulted on its proposal to allow developers to use creators’ content published online to develop their models, unless rights holders choose to explicitly refuse.
Speaking to the BBC, author Ishiguro asked: “Why is it just and fair, and even reasonable, to change our cherished copyright laws in favor of large corporations and at the expense of individual writers, musicians, filmmakers and artists?”
The Nobel laureate added that “it is essential that (the authorities) understand this.”
MPs recently rejected Baroness Kidron’s special amendment to make AI developers liable under UK copyright law.
Now she says that transparency obligations for tech firms under a newly proposed amendment could support the development of licensing agreements between creators and companies.
“The UK is uniquely positioned to take its place as a global player in the international AI supply chain, but seizing that opportunity requires the transparency envisaged in my amendments which are essential to creating a vibrant licensing market,” said Baroness Kidron.
