Paul McCartney Continues To Urge UK To Protect Musician Copyright From AI Threats

JAKARTA Paul McCartney, the legendary music icon of The Beatles, continues to urge the British government to be more serious about protecting musicians' copyright amid the threat of artificial intelligence (AI). He highlighted the potential abuse of artists' works by technology companies if existing rules were relaxed.

Currently, the UK government is considering changes to copyright laws that allow AI companies to use copyrighted material to train their models, unless their creators explicitly refuse. This move sparked McCartney's concern that called it a serious threat to the creativity and future of young artists.

"Young people, women, they create beautiful songs, but if these laws are passed, they could lose control of their work. Anyone can steal the work easily," McCartney, who is now 82 years old, said in an interview with the BBC. A snippet of the interview scheduled for airing this Sunday has been released on Saturday as quoted by ABC News, Sunday, January 26.

McCartney also highlighted inequality in the distribution of profits from creative works in the digital era. "The money from the streaming platform flows somewhere, and what should get it is the creator. It's not the tech giant that takes over," he stressed.

On the other hand, the British government, which is now led by the Labor Party, has the ambition to make Britain a global leader in the AI sector. In consultations that began last December, the government seeks to balance creators' rights to control their work and provide AI developers with access to high-quality creative content.

However, this discourse has drawn rejection from various parties. Publishers, artist organizations, and media companies, including The Associated Press, joined the Copyright Coalition in AI to fight the weakening of copyright protection.

"We are the people, and you are the government. Your job is to protect us," McCartney said. "If you want to make a law, make sure the law protects thinkers and creative artists. Otherwise, the world will lose them," he concluded.

McCartney hopes the government understands that creativity is the foundation of the British art industry that has been successful on the world stage. If the protection of artists is neglected, the impact could destroy the future of the art world.