On 25 February, more than a thousand musicians—including Cat Stevens, Damon Albarn, Annie Lennox, and Kate Bush—released a silent album in protest against the UK government’s planned changes to copyright law, which could allow tech firms to train artificial intelligence models using their work.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has made his stance on AI clear. He aims for Britain to become an AI superpower and has suggested relaxing laws that currently give artists control over how their material is used.
The proposed changes to copyright law would permit AI developers to train their models on any material to which they have lawful access, including content readily available on the internet. Creators would be required to proactively opt out if they wished to prevent their work from being used.
The proposals include a “rights reservation”, which would allow artists to opt out. However, many believe that, in practice, it would be impossible for an artist to notify thousands of AI service providers that they do not want their content used in this way or to track what has happened to their work across the internet.
The changes have been heavily criticised by artists, who argue that they undermine the fundamental principle of copyright law, which grants creators exclusive control over their work. The musicians hope that their protest album, titled Is This What We Want?, will raise awareness of the potential impact on their livelihoods and the UK music industry. All profits from the album will be donated to the charity Help Musicians.
Currently, copyright is an automatic right that arises whenever an individual or company creates a work. To qualify for protection, a work must be original and demonstrate a degree of labour, skill, or judgement. Copyright law is based on independent creation rather than the idea behind the creation.
A consultation on the proposed changes, conducted by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), has now closed. A DSIT spokesperson stated that no decisions have been made yet. However, the department believes that the UK’s current copyright regime is holding back the creative industries, media, and AI sector from reaching their full potential—and that this cannot continue.