Music Industry Applauds EU Provisional Agreement on AI Act Emphasizing Copyright Protection

Music industry bodies are expressing their approval following the recent provisional agreement on the text for the European Union's Artificial Intelligence Act. After exhaustive negotiations, the European Parliament and European Council cemented a path forward for the legislation, which will still need to be formally adopted by both bodies before being implemented by individual EU countries. The focus for the music sector has been the act's approach to AI companies that deploy models trained on copyrighted content. Organizations like the IFPI and GEMA have been lobbying for stringent rules, and the responses to the agreement suggest optimism. The IFPI referred to the framework as 'constructive and encouraging,' emphasizing the importance of transparency obligations and adherence to EU copyright standards in AI applications. Meanwhile, GEMA's CEO, Dr. Tobias Holzmüller, highlighted the necessity for AI systems offered in Europe to be transparent about their training content. Both bodies view the agreement as a positive step, but also signal that further technical refinements are required for its full potential to be realized in protection of copyrights within the music industry.