LONDON (AP) 鈥 Paul McCartney urged the British government not to make a change to copyright laws that he says could let artificial intelligence companies rip off artists.
The government is consulting on whether to let tech firms use copyrighted material to help train artificial intelligence models unless the creators explicitly opt out.
McCartney told the BBC that would make it harder for artists to retain control of their work and undermine Britain鈥檚 creative industries.
鈥淵ou get young guys, girls, coming up, and they write a beautiful song, and they don鈥檛 own it, and they don鈥檛 have anything to do with it. And anyone who wants can just rip it off,鈥 the 82-year-old said in an interview to be broadcast Sunday. An extract was released Saturday by the BBC.
鈥淭he truth is, the money鈥檚 going somewhere. When it gets on the streaming platforms, somebody is getting it, and it should be the person who created it. It shouldn鈥檛 be some tech giant somewhere.鈥
Britain鈥檚 center-left says it wants to make the U.K. a world leader in AI. In December, it announced a consultation into how copyright law can 鈥渆nable creators and right holders to exercise control over, and seek remuneration for, the use of their works for AI training鈥 while also ensuring 鈥淎I developers have easy access to a broad range of high-quality creative content.鈥
Publishers, artists鈥 organizations and media companies, including The Associated Press, have banded together as the Creative Rights in AI Coalition to oppose weakening copyright protections.
鈥淲e鈥檙e the people, you鈥檙e the government. You鈥檙e supposed to protect us. That鈥檚 your job,鈥 McCartney said. 鈥淪o you know, if you鈥檙e putting through a bill, make sure you protect the creative thinkers, the creative artists, or you鈥檙e not going to have them.鈥
