Elton John

Music legend

‘The UK’s creative sector is the envy of the world, but we only achieved that success with the backing of our long-standing copyright protection – the world’s gold standard. And it’s paid off: our creative industries drive economic growth and create jobs for the UK, as well as fuelling our ongoing leadership in world affairs.

‘But make no mistake: our position is tenuous. It’s harder than ever to succeed. This is arguably the most competitive global market in our lifetime, especially for new and young British artists.

‘I have been standing up on behalf of young artists because they literally represent our future. The proposal being considered by the UK Government would devastate our creative community, especially emerging artists and those who aspire to a career in the arts.

‘It would allow the taking of our music – and every other piece of art ever made in the UK – without authorisation or compensation. And for what? To help powerful foreign technology companies make profits. That’s just wrong and it’s unnecessary.

‘We all recognise and embrace the fact that generative AI technology offers some incredible opportunities for us all. This is not new. The music community has always been quick to adopt new technologies.

‘We must respect creators’ rights, deliver great experiences for fans and offer new and young artists even brighter opportunities. But adoption of this copyright exception would destroy the UK’s leadership that has been hard won, and what’s worse, it would give it all away. For nothing.’

Kate Mosse

Best-selling author

‘I wholly support the Government’s agenda for growth and am committed to the transformative possibilities of AI, but this cannot be at the expense of British authors and our world-leading creative industries which contribute some £126billion per year to the UK’s coffers. Our work makes a difference. Yet our work is being stolen illegally and without our permission or payment. This must stop.

‘The AI companies pay for the electricity and water they use, for the technicians they employ, and should pay creatives in the same way.

‘It is a matter of principle, of fairness, of good and ethical business practice.

‘The UK has the oldest and most respected copyright law in the world, it is workable and transparent. Our licensing and collecting systems work.

‘The AI companies could – and should – follow the law, they simply are choosing not to. So I am calling on the Government – and all opposition politicians – to back an “opt in” solution, putting the responsibility on AI companies to seek permission and offer payment for using our work rather than the proposed unworkable and untested “opt out” solution that puts the burden on writers to prevent their work being stolen.

‘Please listen to us. Do not legitimise theft. Do not damage our world-beating creative economy. Do not reward wrong doing by weakening UK copyright/IP protections. Work with us to enable us to help you achieve the growth the country needs. Back British.’

Joan Armatrading

Singer-songwriter whose global hits include Love and Affection from 1976 and Me Myself I from 1980

‘It is crucial to safeguard the rights of creators through robust copyright laws.

‘Governments must take immediate action to ensure that the intellectual property of creatives – whether ideas, works, or inventions – remains protected and under the originators’ control.’

ED Newton-Rex

AI whistleblower and most prominent campaigner

‘The Government’s proposal would hand the life’s work of the UK’s talented creators – its musicians, its writers, its artists – to AI companies, for free.

‘It would let foreign AI companies exploit our incredibly valuable creative output to build tech that directly competes with our creative industries. The country’s creators are rightly united in opposition to this ill-thought-through plan.’

Nick Foster

Bafta-winning composer

‘These proposed changes to copyright law will be hugely detrimental to artists in the UK because it is taking away the protections of people who write. If this goes ahead, who will be the next Hans Zimmer, the next Paul McCartney or the next Ed Sheeran? This country is amazing with music and creativity and we punch well above our weight but this will do real damage.’

Tory Damian Collins

Former chair of DCMS committee

‘Why should AI developers get to steal data from the works of artists without giving any compensation to the artist?

‘It’s effectively a form of theft. No one is saying we need AI to replace humans in creating beautiful works of art and music.

‘There’s no market need for this. There’s no cultural need for this. It is simply one group of people taking from another to make money for themselves.’

Lib Dem Lord Tim Clement-Jones

Co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on AI

Read More

Q&A: What are Labour’s plans on AI and copyright? All you need to know about the alarming proposals 

‘The Government is just completely walking into this. Instead of retreating politically they’ve just dug themselves a deeper hole.

‘They need to take this option off the table and make sure that they ensure that one of the most valuable sectors in the British economy survives and thrives alongside AI.

‘Creatives must not be deprived of a living as a result of AI.’

Rosa Curling

Co-executive director of Foxglove, a non-profit fighting to make technology fair

‘US tech giants have set their sights on nothing less than the strip-mining of British culture and journalism to train their AI models and line their pockets.

‘We’re the country of Shakespeare, Orwell, Charli XCX and the Beatles – it would be madness to trade that away for free in exchange for some vague promise of AI-focused growth.

‘Rather than helping American monopolists gorge themselves on our culture, the Government should press on with probing the dodgy deals that enabled them to gobble up the AI market – like Microsoft’s so-called partnership with OpenAI, which has been held up at the pre-notification stage of the competition regulator, the CMA, for over a year.’

Keith Kupferschmid

CEO of the Copyright Alliance in America

‘This is a great concern. AI is the shiny new toy, and everybody’s enamoured with it, but it doesn’t have to be in a way that eviscerates copyright and creators’ rights.

‘Everybody’s racing to the bottom by trying to lure these AI companies.

‘It’s especially astonishing when it comes to the UK because the country is such a leader when it comes to culture and creativity.’

A timely alert from Cambridge

A major report by AI experts at Cambridge University has called for ‘robust policy intervention’ to protect the cultural industry from the threats the technology poses, and urged caution over a copyright exemption.

Researchers from the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy examined how generative AI may affect artists and productivity in a report published this week.

They point out the sector contributes £126 billion to the economy, whereas AI firms, while fast-growing and exciting, bring in a relatively tiny £3.7 billion.

They write: ‘The UK’s creative industries are facing new and far-reaching threats from unregulated AI models.

‘We urge caution against embarking on a text and data-mining exemption, without a robust analysis of the impact that it will have on the creative industries.’

mp letter

The UK’s creative industries are under threat. Their intellectual property rights are at risk of being undermined to the benefit of generative artificial intelligence (AI) companies. We need you to help stop this.

Creative works protected by copyright, such as music, images, design, videos, and literary works including books and news articles are routinely scraped from the internet by generative AI developers without permission or payment. These creative works are then used to train AI tools and generate unlimited numbers of outputs.

The creative industries thrive on the power of imaginative minds to tell stories through music, film, imagery and art, all underpinned by copyright protections. However, certain generative AI developers are calling on the UK government to weaken copyright protections, threatening creatives’ livelihoods.

The UK’s creative industries are worth £125bn to the economy and are growing at five times the rate of the economy as a whole. Our creative talent, which brings pride to our communities and is celebrated globally, could be jeopardised if copyright protections are weakened.

Creators want to embrace generative AI and realise the many opportunities it offers. But this will only be possible if the Government takes action to:

• Protect copyright, in turn supporting a dynamic licensing market that ensures creators are fairly remunerated and provides certainty for businesses.
• Introduce meaningful transparency obligations on generative AI developers to disclose detailed information on all creative works used in AI training.
• Take advantage of the UK’s world-leading creative and tech sectors to set a global standard for AI that supports, not undermines, the creative industries.

We do not support the new exception to copyright proposed in a consultation launched by the government. The priority should be to ensure that current copyright laws are respected and enforceable.

As your constituent, I am asking you to support the Creative Rights in AI Coalition campaign. Will you write to Feryal Clark, Minister for AI and Digital Government and Chris Bryant, Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism, to share our concerns?

EXCLUSIVESIMON COWELL: AI shouldn’t be able to steal the talent of the humans who created the magic in the first place

•  To back the Daily Mail campaign and write to your MP visit here 

By SIMON COWELL FOR THE DAILY MAIL

PUBLISHED: 23:01, 21 February 2025 | UPDATED: 23:01, 21 February 2025

View comments

It’s impossible to put an accurate price or value on an idea until long after it has come to life. It could be a song, a photograph, a story or a piece of art.

Britain has so much talent and some of the most creative people on the planet. I believe we have a duty to make sure we protect the power and value of our creativity and ideas, for ourselves and for generations to come. The thought that anyone would believe they have the right to blindly give this country’s creative ideas away – for nothing – is just wrong.

I’m not a tech expert, I don’t have a phone. I’m a huge fan of many aspects of AI and I have actually invested in it – and we are also using it in aspects of our business. I think it’s a game-changer. Many of the plusses outweigh the minuses, but we have no clue of its capabilities right now.

Some of the things I’ve heard about from AI being used recklessly and without regulation are scary.

In the case of AI’s impact on copyright and the creative sector in Britain – from music to photography to television or writing – I don’t think the impact has been considered properly. And this isn’t about me. This is for the future generations who are going to create work they love and value. This is just basic common sense. Over the last 40 years in the TV and music industry, I and my teams have had to learn to evolve our creative businesses alongside and in partnership with many new technologies.

I don’t think the impact of AI on copyright and the creative sector in Britain has been considered properly, writes Simon Cowell

We have always been huge supporters of social media and sometimes we have been one of the first to adopt them and support them – as well as admit that our shows and artists have become so successful thanks, in part, to the powers of social media.

Paul Potts’s and then Susan Boyle’s auditions on Britain’s Got Talent were among the first to create global stars through YouTube – and there have been many more since then.

One Direction and their fanbase were legendary in both the tech and music industries at the time, when social media was first exploding.

They benefited each other beyond measure. In some ways it’s always a leap of faith you have to take but I believe you should always take that leap with as much information as possible.

We all thought email and then social media had changed our lives, but we are now looking at a future where AI will undoubtedly transform things in ways that make those tech advancements look like the warm-up.

As it stands, it doesn’t look as if there is any concept of the damage it could potentially cause to allow some of these AI companies to literally steal the work of every musician, writer and creator in Britain. The destruction faced by the music industry is an obvious massive problem – especially for aspiring musicians, writers, artists and producers.

There are huge amounts of people who work behind the scenes in the creative industries on all different sizes of projects – from hit songs to shows in more areas than you can possibly imagine. Many of their livelihoods risk being wiped out by AI if this is not managed and regulated properly. Computer-generated music could replace all of them. And it won’t be as good.

Personally I have worked with so many people who have written songs, produced shows and it’s often taken years. A great song to me is like a great painting. I really do embrace the future: however, I also believe that you have to be fair. And I’m only writing this because I passionately care about people’s personal creativity – and AI shouldn’t be able to steal the talent of those humans who created the magic in the first place.

Anyone who is able to create something they care about deserves to have their work protected (Pictured are One Direction, who Cowell managed after their appearance on The X Factor)

This is something I’ve seen over the past few years with the rise of influencers: young people reaching an audience of fans through social media, sharing their love of everything from fashion to writing to music, of course. Which is brilliant! But they could be threatened by AI and the computer-generated accounts marketing all kinds of music or writing and even taking over from influencers.

Anyone who is able to create something they passionately care about deserves to have their work protected.

I’ve spent my career finding new talent, starting my own record label and then creating TV formats like The X Factor and Got Talent across the world. It is a business, but I have always done it because I love creating the opportunities and platform – and it’s an incredible buzz to discover talent.

Read More

Q&A: What are Labour’s plans on AI and copyright? All you need to know about the alarming proposals 

Whether they are singers, songwriters or producers, it doesn’t matter, because it’s their unique creativity which fuels the future. One great artist or producer can inspire so many people. I’ve seen it countless times.

You might imagine that it’s completely illegal to copy the unmistakable voices of world-famous performers, past and present. Apparently it’s not.

And it’s difficult to prevent AI companies from taking artists’ songs on streaming platforms and using it to train their models. It will become impossible if companies are able to ‘scrape’ and copy all the world’s music and content.

There is no question that tech has the capacity to amplify the power and impact of music and television – and it already has. But the advice I always give people is never to guess – especially when the stakes are high. When you don’t know everything, it’s better to take a pause.

I want to say this again. What is coming is huge. A game-changer. Think about this – and consider the impact every decision made at this point is going to have on so many people who have a unique talent.

This is potentially one of the biggest moments and decisions of our time.

• BoltTrayMeteor
  
  Vancouver, Canada
  
  7 hours ago
  
  Translation: “I’ve driven plenty of young artists to the brink, and I deserve every penny of reward for my behaviour”.
  
  
  Bring_Me_A_Sammich
  
  MyCouch, United States
  
  6 hours ago
  
  This is so laughable and hypocritical coming from a man who pitch corrects all his artists songs and then allows them to not only lip sync, but use auto tune when they do sing “live”. No one ever eve…
  See more
  
  
  jasper_69
  
  Back of Beyond, United Kingdom
  
  2 hours ago
  
  No one says that AI shouldn’t be embraced, but it should be used to enhance, not replace. If someone has created something, then their copyright should be protected. You might not think it is a big d…
  See more
  
  
  Stevie_SFV
  
  Los Angeles, United States
  
  2 hours ago
  
  For 20 years, Simon has relentlessly been turning the music biz artists into lame and anemic TV game show contestants. When was the last time a season winner went onto a a career? Ah, never? He’s fro…
  See more
  
  
  Getting Fedup
  
  Now, United Kingdom
  
  22 minutes ago
  
  I think what he really means is AI shouldn’t be allowed to take away the profits I make from other peoples talent
  
  
  
  Efful
  
  Malvern, United Kingdom
  
  2 hours ago
  
  Why not? You obviously did enough times. Weasel words.
  
  
  wother
  
  Aberdeenshire, United Kingdom
  
  3 hours ago
  
  There must be something negative for him personally for this narcissist to care
  
  
  Jimbo19
  
  Diss, United Kingdom
  
  42 minutes ago
  
  Why not Simon, you’ve done it and made a career out of it!
  
  
  Tiny CO2
  
  Warrington, United Kingdom
  
  43 minutes ago
  
  How very ironic that the site is leading the way to defend big organisations stealing the content of others, when it does just that. Much like its campaign against cancel culture, what it objects to …
  See more
  
  
  Geoff
  
  London, United Kingdom
  
  10 minutes ago
  
  oh the irony
  
  
  BeBeel
  
  Nottingham, United Kingdom
  
  43 minutes ago
  
  Of course everyone was in favour of Al and ‘progress’ right up until they realised that they may have cash taken from under their noses.
  
  ello-20136
  
  shrewsbury, United Kingdom
  
  7 minutes ago
  
  Simon Cowells entire career has been based on other human beings talent.