Copyright problems with AI music are easily solved, expert says

If a song created by artificial intelligence (AI) is sung by a voice-generating AI and credited to an AI group, who does the copyright of the song belong to? And what if human producers use the same AI program and make a similar song: Will they be...

International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) Chief Legal Officer Lauri Rechardt speaks at a panel discussion for Moving the World with Music Conference on Thursday in Yongsan District, central Seoul. [KOREA MUSIC CONTENT ASSOCIATION]

If a song created by artificial intelligence is sung by a voice-generating AI and credited to an AI group, who does the copyright of the song belong to? And what if human producers use the same AI program and make a similar song: Will they be subject to plagiarism?

With the merging of artificial intelligence and music, uncharted territory abounds as established guidelines or rules regarding such issues have yet to be made. However, International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) Chief Legal Officer Lauri Rechardt suggests simple answers for these difficult questions — laws related to copyright and intellectual properties exist to protect the rights of human artists, not AI.

“If you have a purely AI-generated work recorded, it actually does not and should not be entitled to copyright protection, so that much is clear,” Rechardt said as he sat down for an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Thursday.

Rechardt had visited Korea for the Moving the World with Music Conference (MWM) organized by the Korea Music Content Association, joined by CEOs of AI audio tech start-ups such as Supertone and POZAlabs, who introduced a number of instances in which their technologies can be used to boost the music industry — from creating artificial voice to modifying the voice gender of an original artist and editing the original music piece to add more effects and heighten its quality — all with a couple of clicks using generative AI programs.

Having started his career in 1992 as an assistant director in legal and licensing, Rechardt worked as a partner and head of intellectual property rights at Finnish law firm Procope & Hornborg before joining IFPI. As a chief legal officer, Rechardt oversees IFPI's legal department. The IFPI, which consist of some 8,000 members in 70 countries, is an international association which strives to improve the global data landscape for the music industry. Rechardt gave a speech on the role and future of AI in the global music market's growth at the MWM event.

Using AI programs in music, or any other sectors of the industry, is not particularly new, Rechardt says, although the surge of new technologies and platforms such as ChatGPT has put the issue in the limelight.

“So that's different from using AI as a tool in a creative process, which is already happening. Artists use AI applications as tools in various ways to support their creative processes,” he said. “Copyright is the preserve of human creative activity. If you don’t have sufficient human creativity involved in the process, it’s not protected by copyright. So a machine can’t own copyright. Only humans deserve that protection for their original creative activity.”

When used as a tool, Rechardt believes AI will become a stepping stone to new opportunities for the global music industry.

“AI can be a great opportunity for the artists, for the industry and the fans,” he said. “But we need to get the fundamentals right. The fundamental is that we should not sacrifice human creativity for the sake of technology — that doesn’t work in the long run, because if we don’t find the right balance, technology for the technology’s sake is not a solution.”

Rechardt envisions that AI may also be used to help the industry cure its piracy problems as well.

“An important part of IFPI's work is to ensure our members' recordings are not used online without permission,” he said. “We have a global team monitoring the internet 24/7 for such unauthorized uses. AI could also help us better detect copyright infringements.”

Although ridding the world of piracy is one of IFPI’s main missions, it is just as important that the association raises awareness on copyright protection — which is even more difficult to do, Rechardt says.

“The global Human Artistry Campaign published principles related to the usage of AI in creating music, which have been endorsed by over 40 performers, songwriters and organizations," he said. The campaign, with IFPI as one of its founding members, started in March and attempts to ensure AI technologies are developed and used to support human culture and artistry instead of replacing it.

"But at the end of the day, you could say that it’s as simple as saying you shouldn’t take someone else’s property or appropriate their personality. As ever, education and awareness-raising is essential. It is important to ensure that people make the connection between respect of copyright and how that enables the creation of new music by the artists they love. That’s the missing piece, and you can see that when that penny drops, people do behave differently.”

The MWM was held for the first time to discuss the future of music in the face of technology development and subsequent changes in the musical markets. It was initially scheduled to take place on Nov. 3 and 4 last year but was postponed due to the Itaewon crowd crush tragedy last October.

The conference touched upon matters in the changing musical landscape for the K-pop industry as its soft power continues to influence the world, and the growing importance of intellectual properties and AI.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]