1,000 musicians release a silent album in protest of U.K.’s proposed AI copyright law changes

A group of musicians is hoping the sound of their collective silence speaks volumes to lawmakers in the U.K.

More than 1,000 artists — including Kate Bush, Imogen Heap, Annie Lennox, Cat Stevens and Hans Zimmer — released a silent album titled “Is This What We Want?” on Tuesday in response to the U.K. government’s proposed changes to a copyright law.

They argue that changes to the law, proposed late last year, would “allow artificial intelligence companies to build their products using other people’s copyrighted work — music, artworks, text, and more” without a license, according to a website for the album. “The musicians on this album came together to protest this.”

The album’s track list spells out a sentence: “The British Government Must Not Legalize Music Theft To Benefit AI Companies.”

“It’s an album of recordings of empty studios & performance spaces, representing the effect the govt’s plans would have on musicians’ livelihoods,” Ed Newton-Rex, a composer who was among those who organized the album, wrote in a post on X.

The album is the latest action from creatives over growing concerns that AI could encroach on their works. While it focuses on British law, concerns over AI’s impact on artists’ livelihood have been widespread.

Laws regulating AI are sparse, and because generative AI, which can create media from songs to images, is so accessible, many creatives have raised ethical and legal questions over tech companies training their programs on artists’ works. 

The album’s release came on the closing day of the British government’s public consultation on changing the copyright laws. In December, the left-leaning Labour Party announced that it would begin consulting on AI and shifting copyright laws with the intent of becoming a world leader in AI technology. 

As it is currently proposed, the law would allow artists to opt-out of being used for AI learning.

On Tuesday, newspapers in the U.K. ran identical messages titled “Make it fair,” which called for protecting creative industries from AI. Some shared side-by-sides of the British newspaper covers on X.

In a statement to The Associated Press, the British government said it was “consulting on a new approach that protects the interests of both AI developers and right holders and delivers a solution which allows both to thrive.” It added that “no decisions have been taken.”

There have been efforts to combat the legislative changes prior to the album’s release, including from a group called the Creative Rights in AI Coalition. The group says companies should seek permission first to train AI on artists’ works. This would put the responsibility on the companies seeking to use AI rather than on artists having to opt out.

“Protecting copyright and building a dynamic licensing market for the use of creative content in building generative AI (GAI) isn’t just a question of fairness: it’s the only way that both sectors will flourish and grow,” the coalition wrote on its website.

In a letter to the Times published Tuesday, 34 artists, including some featured on the album, called for “protecting U.K.’s creative copyright against AI.”

The new proposal is “wholly unnecessary and counterproductive,” and jeopardizes not only the U.K.’s international position as “a beacon of creativity but also the resulting jobs, economic contribution and soft power — and especially harming new and young artists who represent our nation’s future,” the artists wrote.

Signees include Bush, Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran, Elton John and Sting.

Bush, who is known for hit songs like “Running Up That Hill,” shared a music video for the album on her website. The 1-minute-and-25-second video features footage of empty recording studios, with the names of the album’s tracks in a bold white font above the video.

“The U.K. is full of pioneering, highly creative and imaginative artists.” Bush wrote on her website. “The government’s willingness to agree to these copyright changes shows how much our work is undervalued and that there is no protection for one of this country’s most important assets: music. Each track on this album features a deserted recording studio. Doesn’t that silence say it all?”

She added that she’s “very happy to have contributed a track to this project and to join the protest” and asked for the public’s support in protecting “the music makers and our heartfelt work.”

“In the music of the future, will our voices go unheard?”