PRS for Music celebrates British IP Day: Chief Strategy, Communications & Public Affairs Officer calls to protect intellectual property of music creators in the face of AI adoption
01 November 2024 - Press releaseLast night, John Mottram, Chief Strategy, Communications & Public Affairs Officer at PRS for Music, addressed MPs, policymakers, government officials, songwriters and composers, at the House of Commons on British IP Day.
The parliamentary reception, hosted by Pete Wishart MP and The Alliance for Intellectual Property, in partnership with PRS for Music and DACS, celebrated the UK’s creative and IP-rich sectors across music and the visual arts.
In his speech, he emphasised the need to protect the intellectual property (IP) of music creators in the face of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption. John Mottram told the audience:
“It is a pleasure to sponsor, in partnership with DACS, tonight’s reception recognising British IP Day. The theme of this evening is the power of human creativity. It could hardly be anything else, could it.
Someone far brighter than me, Albert Einstein to be precise, said: “creativity is seeing what others see and then thinking what no one else has thought.”
The unique ability, not only to see the world differently, but to share that vision with others is what makes human creativity, in all its forms, so powerful.
This year is a special year for PRS, it marks our 110th anniversary. Since 1914 we have had the honour to represent more than 175,000 songwriters, composers and publishers. Over the past 110 years the music industry has changed beyond recognition, however what has remained constant is the critical role of intellectual property (IP) in our sector. PRS for Music, like so many others in this room, exists to ensure the artistic brilliance of the UK’s creators are rewarded whenever and wherever their works are used.
Our members depend on copyright, and our ability to license it, to earn a living from their craft and to build their businesses.
In a digital global market, competition for our eyes and ears has never been greater. At a time when the UK is seeking to restart economic growth, our creative businesses need the confidence to innovate and to invest. Confidence which relies upon certainty and the protection of their works, both here and internationally.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a massive issue and challenge, but it is also an opportunity for all sectors. Sometimes we struggle with the concept that AI will be this benevolent gift to society, to be freely used for the purpose of human advancement and democratisation. AI companies are businesses like any other. They are raising billions, if not trillions, of investment for their new services and tools. Investors, at least in my experience, expect to see significant returns on their investments.
Despite this, it is the creators, without whom these AI services would not exist, who are too often told, it is unreasonable for them to continue to expect to control their musical works or be properly and accurately paid for them. This is a broken narrative. We need to strike a balance, otherwise we risk an irreversible shift of value away from the UK’s creative industries, and in the longer-term could erode even the possibility of a creative career.
Creators, like all of us, recognise the opportunity of AI. A survey of PRS members last year showed 30% were already using AI to assist in the creation of music, with more than half expected to be using it in the future.
They don’t want to slow the advancement of AI. They just believe it can, and should, be fairer.”
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