Paul McCartney Takes Stand Against AI Law in the UK
Paul McCartney spoke out about changes to copyright law in the UK involving AI that could seriously impact the livelihood of musicians and other artists.
According to the BBC, “The government is considering an overhaul of the law that would allow AI developers to use creators’ content on the internet to help develop their models, unless the rights holders opt out.”
Sir Paul sat down with BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg to discuss these potential copyright law changes and his concerns about what it could mean to future musicians.
“We’re the people, you’re the government, you’re supposed to protect us. That’s your job,” said McCartney. “So, if you’re putting through a bill, make sure you protect the creative thinkers, the creative artists, or you’re not going to have them … Let’s protect the creative people.”
He added, “If there’s such a thing as a government, it’s their responsibility, I would think, to protect the young people, to try and enhance that whole thing so that it works, so that these people have got jobs and can enhance the world with their wonderful art. So protect it!”
Many will be quick to point out that Macca and Ringo Starr utilized AI in order to produce, “Now And Then,” which was billed as “the final Beatles song.” Before the track’s release in November 2023, buzz surfaced about the song and its use of AI. McCartney took to social media and issued a statement saying, in part, ” … We’ve seen some confusion and speculation about it. Seems to be a lot of guess work out there. Can’t say too much at this stage but to be clear, nothing has been artificially or synthetically created. It’s all real and we all play on it. We cleaned up some existing recordings – a process which has gone on for years. We hope you love it as much as we do.”
