Music, Copyright, and Contracts in the Age of AI

Rapid advances in generative AI are reshaping the creation, distribution, and exploitation of music, raising fundamental questions for copyright law and contractual practice. With the fifth anniversary of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (CDSM Directive) around the corner, and as AI models are being deployed in increasingly novel contexts, historic legal frameworks are being tested in new and often uncertain ways.

The deadline elapsed for EU member states to introduce laws in line with the CDSM Directive in June 2021. Chapter 3 of that Directive created a series of rules aimed at rebalancing the relationship between authors and performers on the one hand, and those that they contract with to exploit their works on the other. Granting authors and performers an entitlement to appropriate and proportionate remuneration, and even the power to unilaterally revoke contracts in certain situations, the Directive sought to level the playing field for creators.

We have now reached a point, five years on, where we can start to evaluate the practical success of these provisions. The UK’s post-Brexit decision not to implement the same rules offers a useful point of comparison, particularly in examining how creators’ rights are reflected in contracts drafted in the UK as opposed to those on the continent. In both contexts, rightsholder groups and collective management organisations have remained central to securing fair remuneration for creators; however, the emergence of generative AI can reasonably be expected to place new pressures on, and potentially reshape, these established arrangements.

The UCL Institute of Brand and Innovation Law has brought together a distinguished panel of experts to discuss the current landscape of copyright contracts in the music industry.

Confirmed speakers:

• Ed Baden-Powell, Partner, Simkins LLP
• Chris Cooke, Founder and MD of CMU (Completemusicupdate.com)
• Professor Séverine Dusollier, Professor of Intellectual Property Law, Sciences Po Paris; Distinguished Visiting Fellow, UCL Faculty of Laws
• Dr Natasha Mangal, Legal and Policy Advisor, CISAC

Chair: The Rt Hon. Richard Arnold, Lord Justice of Appeal; Hon. Professor of Practice, UCL Faculty of Laws

17:30 Registration and theatre opens
18:00 Event begins
19:15 Q&A
19:30 Reception
This event will be held in-person but will also be live streamed.

Fees for this event are from £8-£35
Free places for UCL students and staff, full time academics, judiciary and government legal services.

Image credit:
https://unsplash.com/photos/music-lyrics-near-vinyl-record-PJXvlTGaW7w
Credit: Siora Photography

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Host or Publisher UCL Institute of Brand and Innovation Law (IBIL)