Musicians Release Silent Album in Protest of UK Copyright Law Changes

More than 1,000 musicians – including Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn and Kate Bush – released a silent album on Tuesday in protest at the UK government’s planned changes to copyright law, which they say would make it easier for AI companies to train models using copyrighted work without a licence.

Under the new proposals, AI developers will be able to use creators’ content on the internet to help develop their models, unless the rights holders elect to “opt out”.

The artists hope the album, entitled Is This What We Want?, will draw attention to the potential impact on livelihoods and the UK music industry.

All profits will be donated to the charity Help Musicians.

“In the music of the future, will our voices go unheard?” Kate Bush said in a statement.

A public consultation on the legal changes closes later on Tuesday.

The album – also backed by the likes of Billy Ocean, Ed O’Brien of Radiohead and Bastille’s Dan Smith, as well as The Clash, Mystery Jets and Jamiroquai – features sound recordings of empty studios and performance spaces, demonstrating what the artists fear is the potential impact of the proposed law change.

The tracklisting for the record simply spells out the message: “The British government must not legalise music theft to benefit AI companies.”

The government is currently consulting on proposals that would allow AI companies to use material that is available online without respecting copyright if they are using it for text or data mining.

Generative AI programmes mine, or learn, from vast amounts of data like text, images, or music online to generate new content which feels like it has been made by a human.

The proposals would give artists or creators a so-called “rights reservation” – the ability to opt out.

But critics of the plan believe it is not possible for an individual writer or artist to notify thousands of different AI service providers that they do not want their content used in that way, or to monitor what has happened to their work across the whole internet.

A spokesman for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said in a statement on Tuesday that the UK’s “current regime for copyright and AI is holding back the creative industries, media and AI sector from realising their full potential – and that cannot continue”.

“That’s why we have been consulting on a new approach that protects the interests of both AI developers and right holders and delivers a solution which allows both to thrive.

“We have engaged extensively with these sectors throughout and will continue to do so.”