AI is rapidly becoming the topic of conversation in almost every industry. Although there are still many unknowns about the lasting impact it will have on the music community, the Recording Academy is engaging with policy makers like the United States Copyright Office to ensure human creativity is always at the forefront of copyright policy.
On Mar. 22, the Recording Academy met with the U.S. Copyright Office in Los Angeles to discuss what the emergence of AI could mean for copyright in the music industry. Recording Academy CEO, Harvey Mason jr. and Acting Chief Advocacy & Public Policy Officer, Todd Dupler hosted the U.S. Copyright Office's Register of Copyrights and Director, Shira Perlmutter, and General Counsel and Associate Register of Copyrights, Suzanne "Suzy" Wilson, at the historic Evergreen Studios in Burbank.
Also in attendance were members of the Recording Academy's Producers & Engineers Wing, including singer-songwriter-producer Alana Da Fonseca, multi-GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY winning engineer Josh Gudwin, and GRAMMY winning audio engineers Michael Graves and Emerson Mancini, along with Vice President of the P&E Wing, Maureen Droney, and Los Angeles Chapter Executive Director, Qiana Conley.
The purpose of the meeting was to give the U.S. Copyright Office a firsthand look at the ways AI is impacting music and how the policies they implement directly affect creators. Mason jr. Even went beyond a discussion and gave the group a demonstration on how simple it is for artificial intelligence to mimic human art. Despite the ease of this AI demonstration, the Recording Academy and the U.S. Copyright Office have made one thing clear: copyright is for people, for creatives. Not for artificial intelligence.
Further highlighting this sentiment, the U.S. Copyright Office recently released a ruling for a comic book where the text was written by an author, but the illustrations were done entirely by artificial intelligence. They ruled that only the text can be copyrighted, not the illustrations. This is because copyright must have a human element. Art created entirely by artificial intelligence is not eligible for copyright.
Although the Recording Academy embraces advances in technology, we want to ensure that what makes art special — human creativity and passion — is protected. This ruling demonstrates that the officials spearheading policy on the matter agree.
The U.S. Copyright Office even has spring listening sessions scheduled for anyone who would like to learn more or discuss their hopes and concerns in relation to AI in the creative community.
In addition to working with the U.S. Copyright Office on this issue, the Recording Academy has also partnered with other industry groups to form the Human Artistry CampAIgn — a coalition aimed to make sure the human element of art remains at the forefront of the industry and that creators are protected as new laws and regulations form regarding AI.
Keep watching this space for continual news on how the Recording Academy continues to fight for music creator's rights — no matter in which direction the technological winds blow.
The Recording Academy Teams Up With Music Community To Launch The Human Artistry CampAIgn
