Letter from the Creators’ Rights Alliance

Dear Chairman of the Board,

Protected works

Wednesday, August 7, 2024

We are writing to you on behalf of our over 500,000 members in connection with the use of their work to develop generative AI models. This letter reiterates that the members of the The Creators’ Rights Alliance and the creators it represents do not authorize or otherwise grant permission for the use of their works protected by copyright and/or related rights (including ancillary copyright) in relation to, without limitation, the training, development or operation of AI modelsincluding large language models, diffusion models, generative or other AI products, unless the developers have expressly entered into license agreements.

The Creators’ Rights Alliance (CRA) is a coalition that promotes, protects and advances the interests of creatives through policy, advocacy and campaigning. We speak on behalf of key creative-led groups, industry associations and unions, representing over 500,000 individual members working as creative professionals in the UK’s creative industries – from writers, artists, photographers and illustrators to translators, performers, musicians and journalists.

We know that artificial intelligence, including generative AI programs, can be useful tools. However, to protect human creativity, truthful content, and the rights of authors, creators, and artists, it is critical that AI models are developed and used in legal, sustainable, and ethical ways.

The CRA notes with concern that the development (including so-called training) and operation of AI models involves the use of large amounts of copyright and related rights-protected works without the consent of rights holders and creators. This has caused, and continues to cause, great harm to the significant creative, human and financial investments of authors, artists and visual creators.

UK law does not permit copying for such purposes without the express consent of the author or their licensee/appointed agent. Accordingly, the large-scale copying (including but not limited to extraction and transformation) undertaken to date constitutes copyright infringement for which rights holders and authors should be compensated, together with the opportunity to have their works and derivatives of those works removed and, where permission is granted not to remove them, full attribution of all past and present uses.

We would like to draw your attention to the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee’s inquiry report into Large Language Models (LLMs), to which the Society of Authors presented evidence supporting the fact that technology companies should not use copyrighted works without permission or compensation, that licensing should be supported and that there should be transparency for rightsholders.

The House of Commons Innovation, Science and Technology Committee also published a legacy report on 29 May 2024 outlining twelve clear challenges for AI governance.

Members of The Creators’ Rights Alliance and the creators it represents do not authorize or otherwise grant permission for the use of their works protected by copyright and related rights (including ancillary copyright) in relation to, without limitation, the training, development or operation of AI modelsincluding large language models, diffusion models, generative or other AI products, unless explicit license agreements have been made.

To avoid any misunderstanding, our members do not accept that any AI platform had or has the right to use their work without an explicit license or their personal data without explicit consent.

We call on the developers of all, but especially generative AI systems:

1. To ensure full transparency about the work used to develop their model;
2. Make detailed requests for any works you wish to use in the future;
3. Obtain the (prior) permission of the relevant author and rights holder and, when a rights holder licenses a catalogue of works, obtain assurances that the authors of those works have expressly consented to the licence agreement.
4. To offer fair compensation for all uses – past and future;
5. In all cases, appropriate credit must be given to all authors involved in the work;
6. To engage in good faith in license negotiations to correct past bad practices, to remove from their systems all copyrighted works (including but not limited to literature, images, music and performances) used without authorization (records and programs) and to provide evidence of such removal;
7. Respect the fact that there may be cases where authors and/or their representatives decide to withhold their consent to the use of their work for ethical and/or economic reasons.

We urge developers to agree terms on a commercial basis with the relevant rights holders and, where those rights holders are not the creators themselves, to ensure that the creators have given their explicit consent. Licensing opportunities already exist and additional models are being developed to enable even more good work. The CRA and its members would welcome your engagement in further developing these models to ensure that all of our creative work enables a successful and vibrant future for all.

Signed,

Association of Authors’ Agents

Association of British Science Writers

Association of Illustrators

Association of Photographers

Copyright and licensing company for authors

British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies

British share collection company

Design and Artist Copyright Society

Directors UK

Equity capital

Coalition of featured artists

Independent society of musicians

Ivors Academy

Music Manager Forum

Musicians’ Union

National Union of Journalists

Collecting society of the image industry for effective licensing

The Royal Photographic Society

The Society of Authors

Society of Artist Agents

Writers Guild of Great Britain