Artificial Intelligence is an integral part of the music sector’s work for years. At IMPALA, our priority is to work with AI and maximise commercial opportunities to brainstorm with our board. With the rise of generative AI, new opportunities as well as new questions and challenges arise, including the legalities of music-making AI, and how AI models are trained and the licensing obligations of AI companies. Making sure that technology is developed in respect of copyright is a top priority for IMPALA so that the sector is in the best position to collaborate with AI services and make sure members can protect their repertoire where it is used without permission.

 

Our One Step Ahead report with CMU on artificial intelligence reviewed the latest trends in generative AI, considered how the technology will evolve, and outlined the legal questions. See the full report here and a follow-up update here.

 

The European Union is at the forefront of this topic, having adopted in 2024 the AI Act, the world’s first legislation regulating the development and use of AI and setting an example for responsible AI governance. The EU AI Act provides the first tools for rightsholders to enforce their rights, including the obligations on providers of General Purpose AI (GPAI) to make available a sufficiently detailed summary of the works used for training their models, to retain detailed technical documentation and to demonstrate they have put in place policies to comply with EU copyright law, regardless of where they acquired data or trained and developed their AI models.  IMPALA, as part of a wider coalition of stakeholders from the cultural and creative sectors have contributed to the process along the way, e.g welcoming the adoption in the European parliament. We are also focusing our efforts on the implementation phase of the AI Act and are in regular contact with other stakeholders on these questions, to make sure the EU process on AI and opt-outs is aligned with the text of the AI Act.

 

IMPALA also supports the Human Artistry Campaign. Launched at SXSW 2023, the Human Artistry Campaign calls for open dialogue and guidance from the united creative community in the AI debate. The growing coalition supports seven core principles for keeping human creativity at the centre of technological innovation (visit HumanArtistryCampaign.com to join).