Proposed copyright exemption for text and data mining at centre of dispute
Paul McCartney will release a two-minute-and-45-second silent track later this month to signal his opposition to proposed changes to UK copyright law that would expand exemptions for AI companies.
The track, titled “Bonus Track, will feature on a limited-edition vinyl album and captures the ambient noise of an empty studio punctuated only by a few clicks.
McCartney’s contribution features on a forthcoming compilation called “Is This What We Want”, a silent album created by more than 1,000 artists, including Hans Zimmer, Kate Bush, Damon Albarn, Annie Lennox and Jamiroquai.
The artists behind the project say the collection is meant to draw attention to the potentially devastating impact the government’s controversial proposals could have on artists’ livelihoods.
At the centre of the dispute is a proposed copyright exemption for text and data mining, which could allow AI developers to train models on copyrighted material including text, images and music without first obtaining a licence. Creators fear this will hand Silicon Valley a sweeping advantage at the expense of British artists who rely on royalties and licensing for income.
The proposed rules, as described by campaigners, would require creators to opt out of having their work used, a reversal of long-standing copyright principles.
“Under the heavily criticised proposals, UK copyright law would be upended to benefit global tech giants,” the group said in a statement.
The backlash gathered momentum earlier this year when more than 400 writers and musicians, including Elton John, Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, Sting, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Helen Fielding, signed a letter to The Times calling the plans a “wholesale giveaway” to Big Tech.
McCartney, 83, has been among the most vocal figures warning that poorly regulated AI threatens future generations of creators.
“We[‘ve] got to be careful about it because it could just take over and we don’t want that to happen,” he has said. “Particularly for the young composers and writers [for] who, it may be the only way they[‘re] gonna make a career.”
Ed Newton-Rex, a composer and prominent campaigner for copyright fairness who helped organise the silent album, said he is “very concerned the government is paying more attention to US tech companies’ interests rather than British creatives’ interests.”
The UK government, meanwhile, faces competing pressures. The creative sector contributes £125 billion a year to the economy, while American AI companies are investing more than £30 billion, mostly in datacentres, and are pushing for light-touch regulation.
A new legal framework on AI and copyright is not expected to reach Parliament until 2026. In the interim, ministers have signed partnership deals with firms including OpenAI, Google and Anthropic to expand AI adoption across government and industry.
Baroness Beeban Kidron, a cross-bench peer and longtime advocate for copyright protections, criticised the government’s handling of the issue, saying it is “trying to play both sides and convincing neither.”
A government source told The Guardian that Liz Kendall, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, is committed to finding a workable compromise and “recognises both of these sectors are British success stories.”
Responding to McCartney’s involvement, a government spokesperson said the administration continues to prioritise “the interests of the UK’s citizens and businesses.”
“We’ve always been clear on the need to work with both the creative industries and AI sector to drive AI innovation and ensure robust protections for creators,” they added.
