A broad coalition of European and international authors, artists, publishers, and producers from the creative sector has sharply criticized the recently published European AI code of conduct and accompanying guidelines.
In a joint statement, the sector speaks of a missed opportunity and accuses the European Commission of prioritizing the interests of generative AI providers over those of rights holders.
According to the organizations, the current implementation of Article 53 of the EU AI Act is insufficient to effectively protect their intellectual property rights against unauthorized use by providers of generative AI models. Despite extensive and constructive input from the sector, the concerns of millions of creators and companies have been largely ignored, the statement said.
Sharp criticism of transparency template
In particular, the so-called template for the disclosure of training data, which is intended to provide transparency on the use of copyright-protected material in AI training, has been heavily criticized. The sector calls the template inadequate and argues that in practice it will not lead to clarity about which works have been used. This is not a workable balance, but a victory for AI companies that systematically infringe copyright, it says.
Article 53 of the AI Regulation was specifically included to better protect holders of copyright and related rights. According to the creative sector, that objective is now being undermined. The implementation fails to effectively support the rights of the sector, according to the organizations. They are calling on the European Commission to review the implementation package and to actually enforce it in favor of rights holders.
Cultural sector is being sold off
In the statement, the sector emphasizes that cultural and creative industries in Europe account for almost 7% of GDP and provide employment for 17 million people. Their economic importance is therefore greater than that of the pharmaceutical, automotive, and high-tech sectors. Nevertheless, the interests of the sector are now being sold to AI companies that make unauthorized use of their work, they argue.
The coalition calls on not only the European Commission, but also the European Parliament and the member states to intervene. They ask the co-legislators to review the unsatisfactory process of this development and to stand up for the interests of European creators. Without intervention, there is a risk of structural infringements of copyright and lasting damage to one of Europe’s most important sectors.