Sony Music has reportedly sent warning letters to 700 companies, including Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft, against the unauthorized scraping in data mining and use to train AI models.
On its website, Sony Music stated: “
Evolutions in technology have frequently shifted the course of creative industries. AI will likely continue that long-standing trend.
However, that innovation must ensure that songwriters’ and recording artists’ rights, including copyrights, are respected. For that reason, SMG’s affiliates, Sony Music Publishing (SMP) and Sony Music Entertainment (SME), on behalf of themselves and their wholly owned or controlled affiliates, are making this affirmative, public declaration confirming that, except as specifically and explicitly authorized by either SME or SMP, as the case may be, each of them expressly prohibits and opts out of any text or data mining, web scraping or similar reproductions, extractions or uses (“TDM”) of any SME and/or SMP content (including, without limitation, musical compositions, lyrics, audio recordings, audiovisual recordings, artwork, images, data, etc.) for any purposes, including in relation to training, developing or commercializing any AI system, and by any means, including by bots, scrapers or other automated processes, in each case to the full extent permitted by applicable law in all relevant jurisdictions.”
As reported by Tech Crunch, “The letter asks recipients to detail which of Sony Music’s songs were used to train AI systems, how the songs were accessed, how many copies were made and if any copies still exist, and why copies existed in the first place. Sony Music has given recipients of the letter a deadline to respond, noting that it will enforce its copyright to the ‘fullest extent permitted by applicable law in all jurisdictions.’”
According to the BBC, the letter reportedly says Sony Music “was willing to come to terms on licensing agreements for future use.”
By the sounds of it, more copyright lawsuits are on the way!
