Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder perform “Ebony and Ivory” as President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Malia Obama, Sasha Obama and Marian Robinson honor Paul McCartney, recipient of the Gershwin prize, in the East Room of the White House. June 2, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton)
Paul McCartney has sounded a dire warning about proposed changes to British copyright laws, cautioning that they could spell disaster for artists. The legendary former Beatle slammed the proposals, which would grant AI developers the right to exploit creators’ content from the internet, as a grave threat to musicians’ livelihoods. In an interview with the BBC, McCartney declared that such changes would “make life miserable” for artists struggling to earn a living, claiming they will inevitably rob a new generation of musicians of their hard-earned work and creativity.
AI is scaring a lot of people; specifically that it could replace just about anyone and everyone, from musicians to actors and even doctors and lawyers. It was this concern that sparked the Hollywood writers’ strike a few years ago.
The British government is currently considering proposals that would permit AI companies to use publicly available online material for text and data mining without regard for copyright restrictions.
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The proposed changes would grant artists and creators a so-called “rights reservation,” allowing them to opt out of having their work used by AI developers.
However, critics argue that this system is deeply flawed. They point out that it is unrealistic for individual writers or artists to notify countless AI service providers of their refusal or to track how their content is being used across the vast expanse of the internet.
In response, an alternative approach will be presented in the House of Lords this week. Crossbench peer Baroness Kidron is set to propose a system where artists must actively opt in, granting explicit permission for their content to be used by AI developers.
“You get young guys, girls, coming up, and they write a beautiful song, and they don’t own it,” Paul McCartney told the BBC. “They don’t have anything to do with it. And anyone who wants can just rip it off. The truth is, the money’s going somewhere. Somebody’s getting paid, so why shouldn’t it be the guy who sat down and wrote Yesterday?”
“So you know, if you’re putting through a bill, make sure you protect the creative thinkers, the creative artists, or you’re not going to have them,” added McCartney.
However, Paul McCartney did acknowledge the benefits of AI explaining how he once, “took an old cassette of John’s [Lennon] and cleaned his voice up so it sounded like it had just been recorded yesterday. So it has its uses.”
