Sony Music Group warns more than 700 companies against using its content to train artificial intelligence

One of the world's largest music record companies is issuing notices warning hundreds of companies about training artificial intelligence models on its content without permission.

Sony Music Group – which owns popular labels like Columbia Records, RCA Records, and Epic Records – has begun sending official letters to more than 700 AI companies and streaming platforms prohibiting them from text or data mining, web scraping, or using any other SMG content without… Explicit licensing agreements.

This covers a wide range of content, including audio recordings, musical compositions (including lyrics), cover artwork and metadata, according to a copy of the letter obtained by NBC News.

SMG said in its letter that it recognizes the “potential and significant progress” of artificial intelligence.

“However, unauthorized use of SMG Content in the training, development, or commercialization of AI systems deprives SMG Companies and SMG Talent of control over and appropriate compensation for uses of SMG Content, interferes with the normal exploitation of those works, and is unreasonably disruptive to our enterprise,” she wrote. “Our interests and violate our intellectual property and other rights.”

Such activity “is inconsistent with the normal exploitation of those works, unreasonably harms our legitimate interests, and violates our intellectual property and other rights,” the letter said.

When requested for comment, an SMG spokesperson referred NBC News to A Advertisement published by the company online Thursday.

“Advancements in technology have often changed the course of creative industries. AI is likely to continue this long-term trend,” he wrote in the post. “However, such innovation must ensure that the rights of songwriters and recording artists are respected,” he wrote in the post. Including copyright.”

The letter asks companies to either confirm that they have not used SMG content without permission, or, if they have, to provide details about how the content will be used in AI training.

The EU Artificial Intelligence Act, the world's first comprehensive AI law, was passed in March. Includes clause Require providers of general-purpose AI models to publish a “sufficiently detailed” summary of the content used to train those models.

The music industry has been plagued by concerns about the use of AI in recent months, as the rapid proliferation of generative AI tools makes it easier than ever for anyone to mine copyrighted content to produce AI-generated music.

While regulations protecting human-made work are still underdeveloped in the United States, many companies have begun negotiating their own agreements around licensing their content for training AI models. Some have too File a lawsuit against artificial intelligence companiesClaiming that their AI models were trained on copyrighted material.

Some audio clips that appear to use AI-generated voices have already appeared online. Last year, a viral song called “heart on my Sleeve,” created by an anonymous musician nicknamed “ghostwriter,” featured vocals resembling those of Drake and The Weeknd. It was quickly removed from streaming services due to copyright reasons. Claim from Universal Music Group.

(UMG has no affiliation with NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.)

In April, Drake released the song “Taylor Made Freestyle,” which featured the AI-generated voice of the late rapper Tupac Shakur. The offending track was removed from Drake's X and Instagram accounts days after Shakur's estate threatened to sue him.

Robert Kinkel, CEO of Warner Music Group, testified last month before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property to defend legislation that would protect against the use of non-consensual deepfakes.

“Our basic position on AI is simple. Every person should have the right to decide how their name, image, and voice are used,” Kinkel said. Prepared notes. “These characteristics are the foundations of our individuality – they are not just data that can be taken and used by others. Every person’s identity should not be used in ways that they would never condone or wish to participate in.”

Artists are also demanding protection against artificial intelligence. More than 200 artists signed an open letter last month calling on AI developers, technology companies and digital music services to pledge not to use AI in ways that “undermine or replace the human artistry of songwriters and artists.”