PLS Signs International Statement on AI Training
Publishers’ Licensing Services (PLS), along with creators and creative industry organisations from across the world, has signed a statement opposing the unlicensed training of generative AI models on creative works.
Over 10,500 creative industry figures and organisations from the across the globe have signed the open letter, including Sir Kazuo Ishiguro, James Patterson, and Max Richter as well as organisations including the Association of Photographers, UK Music, and the Creators Rights Alliance. The statement reads: “The unlicensed use of creative works for training generative AI is a major, unjust threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works, and must not be permitted”.
The statement was organised by Ed Newton-Rex, who resigned as Vice President of Audio at Stability AI in 2023 citing concerns with the use of copyright protected works without permission. Ed later set up Fairly Trained, a non-profit that certifies generative AI companies for training data practices that respect creators’ rights.
On publication of the open letter, PLS and partner organisations the Publishers Association, the Professional Publishers Association, the Society of Authors, and the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society released a joint statement:
The Publishers Association, Publishers' Licensing Services, Independent Publishers Guild, Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society, Association of Authors’ Agents, and the Society of Authors have joined with more than 10,500 creators – writers, musicians, artists, photographers, actors and more – from around the world to highlight the unlicensed training of generative AI models on creative works.
This is a critical time for creators globally and in the UK we eagerly await the government’s next policy move domestically. This action from some of the people behind the books, films, music and art we love serves to shine a light on the threat to the creative community from AI companies using content without transparency, permission and fair compensation.
That is why, as organisations that represent authors and the publishing sector, we have signed the statement.
As part of its commitment to seeking innovative licensing solutions and offering effective collective licensing, PLS is a key participant in rolling out a new opt-in Text and Data Mining (TDM) licence, created in partnership with the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) and its other members. It has also just opened a formal consultation on a CLA proposal to licence published content in workplace AI and will hold a later consultation on a licence for the training of generative AI models.
Tom West, Chief Executive of Publishers’ Licensing Services, said:
“Although there is no doubt about the benefits that recent and future development of AI will bring, it must not be to the detriment of human creativity and the creative industries that contribute so much to the UK culturally, socially, and economically.
Over the past year, we’ve been working closely with the Copyright Licensing Agency and its fellow members ALCS, DACS, and PICSEL to develop voluntary collective licensing solutions that we believe will not only benefit rightsholders but also the AI sector, that relies on trusted, curated content to innovate.
As proud champions of copyright, PLS welcomes and wholeheartedly supports the statement published today”.
To view the statement or become a signatory, please visit the AI training statement website. More coverage of the letter can be read in the Guardian.
