Elton John, Dua Lipa Urge UK to Rethink AI Copyright Plans

(kacanginka) — Top UK artists, including Paul McCartney, Elton John and Dua Lipa, urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer to strengthen copyright protections ahead of a critical vote on rules governing artificial intelligence next week.

Kate Bush, Ian McKellen and Simon Rattle are also among more than 400 signatories of an open letter that says proposed legislative changes leave creators vulnerable to “years of copyright theft.”

“We will lose an immense growth opportunity if we give our work away at the behest of a handful of powerful overseas tech companies and with it our future income,” they wrote in the letter published on Saturday.

It comes as members of the House of Lords prepare to vote Monday on an amendment to the data bill that seeks to require companies to tell copyright owners that their work has been ingested by AI models. The proposed amendment would allow companies and artists “to hold AI accountable for the mass theft of creative works that continues to take place,” the signatories wrote.

The UK government is planning to allow AI companies to train software on copyright-protected work without permission, unless the owner opts out.

Ministers had sought to placate opposition to the plans by requiring an economic impact assessment and reports on transparency and the feasibility of the “opt-out” regime. The signatories have rejected the concessions.