Elton John Calls Government ‘Losers’ For Letting Tech Firms Skirt Copyright Laws

We’ve seen some big names stand up against feeding art to AI. Jay-Z was one of the first to draw a line in the sand. Back in 2020, his label Roc Nation sent out cease and desist letters over deepfakes that used his voice for other creative ends. While casual art consumers might see AI-produced music as fun novelty, producers are more likely to see AI as a violator of intellectual property rights. One such artist is Sir Elton John, and he’s willing to badmouth Parliament if it means advocating for the rights of creatives. BBC has coverage:

On Monday, the House of Lords voted by a 147 majority to amend the Data (Use and Access) Bill to add transparency requirements, which aim to ensure copyright holders have to give permission for their work to be used.

But on Wednesday MPs in the House of Commons voted to reject this change, meaning the bill will continue to go back and forth between the two Houses until they reach an agreement on it.

Sir Elton warned the government was on course to “rob young people of their legacy and their income”, adding that he thought the government was “just being absolute losers, and I’m very angry about it”…the prime minister “must not sell” the next generation of singers, songwriters, musicians, and music creators “down the river and allow all that talent to be crushed by letting soulless AI bots plunder their work”.

If you’d like to hear the bold words from Mr. Tiny Dancer himself, you can watch him speak here:

Laura Kuenssberg, the interviewer, asks a great question: What difference will this really make if, assuming the UK government gets with the program, tech oligarchs like Musk and Zuckerberg get to let AI run rampant? Elton side steps the question by going on a mini-rant about the government not having a right betray its artists and Laura has enough tact to move on, but the question remains. Much like COVID and climate change, the threat that AI scrapping poses to artists is simply too game changing to pretend that a lone government — no matter how large — will be able to curb the dangers. Any real response would require concerted multinational regulation.

What would it take to get the American government on the side of regulating AI? I think that our best bet is to play up the Grok is actually woke angle — that just might be enough to protect up-and-coming artists’ IP.

Elton John Brands Government ‘Losers’ Over AI Copyright Plans [BBC]

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim, is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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