Universal Music Group has been asking music streaming services like Spotify to stop developers from scraping its material to train AI bots to make new songs. The label, which controls about a third of the recorded music industry, has also been issuing substantial numbers of takedown requests in relation to AI uploads appearing online.
It is the latest move in the music industry’s growing battle to prevent AIs from using its songs without licensing them. Behind these efforts to enforce copyright, the big worry is about how governments will balance the rights of AIs against human creativity.
In particular, the UK government is threatening to water down copyright laws to benefit tech companies at the expense of not only the music industry but also creative businesses like literature, films and photography. So what’s going on?
