EU Parliament Calls for AI Copyright Law

EU Parliament Calls for AI Copyright Law

The EPs Committee is urging legislative intervention to protect authors' rights across the entire Generative AI value chain.

The European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) adopted today its report on Generative AI and Copyright, sending a clear and strong political message on the need to protect European creators in the generative AI market.
GESAC applauds the Committee’s strong commitment to addressing creators’ concerns and welcomes its call for targeted EU legislation to ensure transparency, fairness and respect for authors’ rights. 
 

The adopted text notes, in particular, that such legislative intervention should:

• reaffirm the full applicability of EU and national copyright laws to all generative AI services operating in the EU regardless of where they are established or developed,

• provide meaningful transparency obligations for generative AI services,

• introduce a presumption mechanism to achieve a functioning licensing market, and

• consider solutions to address the harmful substitution effects of AI-generated outputs competing unfairly with the original works of creators.

“Today’s vote sends a strong and timely political message,” said Adriana Moscoso del Prado, Director General of GESAC. “At a moment when the European Commission is assessing the EU copyright framework, the JURI Committee has clearly recognised the need for targeted EU intervention to address the ongoing massive unfairness in the generative AI market and to ensure appropriate remuneration of European creators across its value chain. This is also good news for European innovative businesses seeking level playing field and European sovereignty.”

Adriana added: “GESAC welcomes the strong commitment shown by the Rapporteur and the shadows to achieve this forward-looking result, as well as the broad support of the members of the Legal Affairs Committee.”
 

About GESAC:
GESAC stands for European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers. Currently, GESAC comprises 32 authors’ societies in the EEA and Switzerland. Together, we represent over 1.2 million creators and rightsholders – from musicians to writers, visual artists to film directors and many more, in the areas of musical, audiovisual, visual arts, and literary and dramatic works.