Paul McCartney Calls for Protection of Artists from AI in UK Copyright Law

Legendary musician Paul McCartney has warned against proposed changes to the UK’s copyright law, which would allow tech companies to freely train their models on online content unless copyright holders actively opt out.

In excerpts from an interview with the BBC, McCartney urged the government to take stronger action to protect musicians and other artists.

“We are the people, you are the government!” he said. “It’s your job to protect us. So if you’re introducing a bill, make sure you protect creative thinkers, creative artists, or you won’t be protecting them.”

McCartney is not opposed to using artificial intelligence in music creation—indeed, he used technology last year to clean up an old John Lennon demo and create what McCartney described as “the last Beatles record.” However, he raised concerns that artificial intelligence (or at least AI with a lax approach to copyright) presents an economic risk to artists.

He explained, “Young boys and girls come along, write a beautiful song, and they don’t own it, they have nothing to do with it, and anyone can just take it.”

He further added, “The money is going somewhere, and that financial reward for creating a hit song should go to the artist, not to some tech company.”