AI and music copyright
Our principles for Artificial Intelligence (AI) – ensuring its development benefits music creators
For 110 years, safeguarding our members’ creative works has been our core mission. AI’s evolution is increasingly presenting a range of challenges and opportunities for the music industry. We believe AI must operate within a strong legal and regulatory framework which maximises its benefits but protects against its possible harms, including to human creativity.
With this in mind, we've established a set of guiding principles that underpin how we work with AI services and advocate on behalf of our members with government and policymakers.
Our AI principles
- Protection of human creativity - Music is an expression of human emotion, a record of our shared lived experience. Songwriters and composers are at the core of all great music. PRS for Music is committed to championing human creativity, including by ensuring creators are paid and credited whenever and wherever their works are used.
- Choice - Authorisation is the central pillar of copyright and must be protected. Rightsholders should always have the right to decide whether their works are used, including by AI systems. Music is not data, it should not be mined for others’ benefit.
- Transparency – Auditability and transparency must be enshrined in the development of all AI systems. AI-generated content should be clearly labelled as such, for everyone to see.
- Global cooperation – PRS for Music will work with its partners around the world to secure an enforceable regulatory framework for AI companies, one which holds them accountable for their actions.
