The support is significant and the resolution was passed with an overwhelming majority in Parliament, with 460 politicians voting in favour and only 71 against.

Sara Indrio is very pleased with the clear support.

”With this endorsement, EU policymakers are taking artists and their organisations seriously and sending an important signal about the value of artists. Parliament clearly shows that there is a need to ensure fairness, transparency and adequate remuneration for creators in the generative AI market”, says Sara Indrio.

She emphasises that the artists have been heard.

”I see the vote contributing to the growing realisation at EU level of what is at stake: innovation, fairness and cultural sovereignty must go hand in hand. I also commend our European colleagues in the FIA and the ILO for helping to shine a light on the challenges and helping to ensure a good balance between protection, innovation, business and rights management in the artistic market.

The scheme proposes licensing via collective management organisations, which Sara Indrio sees as an obvious solution.

“Collective management organisations already have the infrastructure and much of the data needed. But it's important that the schemes ensure that the payment is both fair and goes directly to the artists via their own organisations. AI creates a new business and rights landscape, and it is the Danish Artists' Union's position that only the artists themselves can act collectively in this market, as the rights are not transferred in the form of record contracts etc." says Sara Indrio.

Dansk Artist Forbund points to a solution where AI services pay in two stages.

”For the training that cannot be traced to specific works, a compensation scheme similar to the blank media scheme in KulturPlus should be adopted. At the same time, licence agreements should be negotiated between the AI services and the artists” collecting societies. This is the only way to ensure schemes that cover everything from traceable imitations to training that is purely data-based." says Sara Indrio.

A few snippets from the resolution

Mandatory transparency - or else legal consequences

The resolution calls for full disclosure of all copyrighted works used to train AI models. Lack of full transparency should give rise to a rebuttable presumption that copyrighted works have been used for training purposes, triggering all applicable legal consequences under EU and national law for infringement of rights committed by AI providers.

Compensation - also for previous use
On payment, the resolution calls on the European Commission to explore solutions for immediate, fair and proportionate remuneration for prior use of copyrighted works by general AI providers, especially where a licence market is not yet established.

Licensing - and restoring the bargaining power of rights holders
The resolution calls for the establishment of a coherent and well-functioning licensing framework to restore the bargaining power of rights holders and enable creators to be fairly remunerated for the exploitation of their works. The resolution recognises collective management organisations (CMOs) as part of the solution and calls on the Commission, in consultation with CMOs, to promote the establishment of voluntary collective licensing agreements as the fastest route to a well-functioning market.

Read more the resolution here.