Sony Music declares AI training opt out
Sony Music Group has taken a proactive stance against the use of its music catalog for training artificial intelligence models. The company has issued a warning to AI firms, making it clear that it will not permit the utilization of its musical works for the purpose of training AI systems without proper authorization. The statement reads as follows.
Sony Music Group (SMG) and its affiliates have invested in the development and promotion of songwriters and recording artists all over the world for more than a century. SMG is a passionate believer in the inherent and paramount value of human artistry. Additionally, SMG has been embracing the potential for responsibly produced AI to be used as a creative tool, revolutionizing the ways songwriters and recording artists create music. We support artists and songwriters taking the lead in embracing new technologies in support of their art. 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. This declaration reaffirms and is without prejudice to all of SMP’s and/or SME’s prior rights reservations and their respective legal rights, all of which are expressly reserved. SME’s and SMP’s rights reservations apply to all existing and future SME and SMP content, including those creative works that may be identified through publicly available means or listed from time to time in databases such as those maintained by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and the [International Confederation of Music Publishers (ICMP).
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