Billie Eilish, Jon Bon Jovi, Pearl Jam and 200 other artists or bands urged the creators of Artificial Intelligence (AI) this Tuesday, in an open letter, not to use this tool to “infringe and devalue the rights of human artists”.
The Artist Rights Alliance (ARA), a non-profit organization run by artists to defend their rights, released the letter with the support of well-known names in the sector, to warn about the unauthorized use of musical works by AI companies.
“We call on all digital music platforms and music-based services to commit not to develop or deploy technology, content or AI music generation tools that undermine or replace the human artistry of songwriters and artists or deny us fair compensation for our work”, the artists demanded in the letter.
The appeal highlights two trends in which music is used illicitly: to train and produce AI ‘imitators’ and to dilute ‘royalty’ obligations using the sound of these algorithms.
Music creators also talk about threats such as voice cloning, as the arrival of AI allows a vocal sample to be used to transform songs into ones that sound like a human artist without being one.
“The unethical use of generative AI to replace human artists will devalue the entire music ecosystem, for artists and fans alike,” said Jen Jacobsen, CEO of ARA, in a statement.
Sam Smith, HYBE, Norah Jones, REM, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, Camila Cabelo, Chuck D and Kate Hudson are among the other signatories of the letter.
As early as October 2023, three major music publishers — Universal Music Publishing Group, Concord Music Group and ABKCO — sued the AI company Anthropic, alleging that it infringed the copyright of song lyrics, as detailed by The Hollywood portal News reporter.
Also in the cultural sector, Hollywood actors began a strike in July 2023 — which lasted more than 100 days — to, among other reasons, achieve regulation in the use of AI, considering it an “existential threat”.
Tags: Billie Eilish Bon Jovi Pearl Jam artists respect rights
