L02_BMB-515

docx

School

Southern New Hampshire University *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

515

Subject

Law

Date

Feb 20, 2024

Type

docx

Pages

Uploaded by angzhang8

1 COPYRIGHT IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) COPYRIGHT IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) BMB 515: Berklee Online Music Business Structure and Strategies Dr. Chandler Coyle

2 COPYRIGHT IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) Abstract Copyright is the core of the music business. It protects the creator’s rights to their intellectual property - music, lyrics, soundtrack, and ideas – from being stolen or copied from others without authorization. Moreover, it gives the righteous owners and organizations the power to do what they wish with their original work to make a profit. Copyright has evolved tremendously since the first copyright law under the United States Constitution in 1790 that protects maps, charts, and books (U.S. Copyright Office, n.d.). As the world continues to evolve and advance, Congress continuously revises the law to adapt to new inventions and expand the scope of the copyright to protect everyone’s rights in various categories ranging from literature to music and sound recording. However, as technological advancements such as artificial intelligence (AI) are moving rapidly, they have become a threat to the entertainment industry as no copyright laws protect works generated by machines. Therefore, this paper will discuss whether AI-generated music can be copyrightable as it may violate copyright infringement. Moreover, I will elaborate on whether Congress should include an additional exclusive right to the copyright law to address AI-generated music and the complex structure of the technology in the music industry.

3 COPYRIGHT IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) Copyright in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Music plays an essential role in many of our lives as it allows musicians to freely express their emotions, feelings, and passion, bringing us joy and strength throughout the day. As much time, effort, and ideas are put into creating the work, the creators must copyright their work to share their creative masterpieces with the world safely. Not only does copyright prevent unauthorized individuals from using the music, lyrics, and master recording as their song, but it also gives creators six exclusive rights to decide what others can and cannot do with their works, with certain exceptions and limitations to better adapt to the emerging technologies. While the advancement of digital software, music production software, and artificial intelligence (AI) has improved how artists create, distribute, and perform high-quality music and enhance creativity, it is also dangerous in various aspects of the music business industry. Especially as more and more artists began to use AI in their musical projects, it has created a significant issue involving copyright and authorship as the AI technology software makes the creative choices, not the humans themselves. Although the current copyright laws do not include AI-generated work, as AI becomes more common in the music business industry, there is no doubt that the government will revise the laws in the near future to make them more beneficial for artists, consumers, and entertainment businesses. Is AI-Generated Music Copyrightable? Artificial intelligence (AI) has significantly changed the operation of the music business. As Ware (as cited in Smith-Muller, 2023) defined, “[AI] is like the brainpower of a computer; it’s the technology that allows machines to mimic human thinking or behavior, such as problem- solving, learning, or recognizing patterns.” It can generate, compose, and produce musical content in a matter of seconds to inspire ideas and enhance creativity in artists. While the

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

4 COPYRIGHT IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) innovative technology has the power and potential to assist artists in creating much higher quality music at a faster speed, satisfy fans all around the world, and generate profitability for music organizations, it has created a significant issue that involves the understanding of ownership, fairness, and the nature of creativity itself. There are currently six exclusive rights in the current copyright laws, and not one states that AI-generated music is copyrightable. Under the U.S. copyright law, copyright law only protects original works created by humans as the condition for copyright requires human authorship (U.S. Copyright Office & Library of Congress, 2023). In other words, music or any other masterworks generated by the absence of human involvement are not eligible for copyright protection. A Seventh Exclusive Right? While AI-generated music is not copyrightable now, there is potential for Congress to add AI or technology-generated music as the "seventh exclusive right" in the copyright law. Dr.

5 COPYRIGHT IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) E. Michael Harrington's "seventh exclusive right" proposal is comprehensive and a great idea. The Copyright Office rules that AI-generated music cannot be copyrighted because human inputs are not involved in creating the original work. However, what happens when humans are involved in creating AI-generated music? Dr. Harrington (2023) proposed a brilliant idea where the artist can own a certain percentage of copyright with AI. The percentage would be determined by the amount of creativity and work the musician did and the software. The twist in this proposal is that humans should have equal or less credit than AI computers. The number of credits distributed to the AI will fall under the public domain, where the content is not copyright protected. For instance, if the artist wrote all the lyrics and used the AI to build the chords and melodies to produce the song, then the artist may own either 50%, 40%, or 30% of the some, and AI would hold the 50%, 60%, or 70%. Many artists may disagree with owning less copyright than a computer. Still, when advanced technologies such as AI are involved, humans will likely rely on computers to create unique melodies, harmonies, rhythms, and lyrics to inspire them to produce high-quality music more quickly and efficiently. Therefore, Dr. Harrington has established a great proposal that may have Congress's approval as it encourages human creativity and gives human creators the appropriate ownership of their work with AI's assistance. Copyright Law to Address AI-Generated Music

6 COPYRIGHT IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) Designing the most appropriate copyright law for AI-generated music is critical to preserving the rules of the U.S. copyright law and protecting individuals' rights while AI technologies are involved. If I were assigned to rewrite the copyright law to address the issues of AI-generated music, I would establish it based on various situations that may be presented. The first situation involves what happens when the composition is entirely AI-generated, from the beginning to the end. In this case, an AI-generated song should not be copyrightable, and the artist involved would not be considered the owner of the music because the human did not show creativity and passion in the work. AI is a data software created by the user(s) of the system to perform tasks with human intelligence, not a person. Humans must be involved in some way for the music to be copyrighted as there is an author – simply typing in the prompt is not considered human creativity and participation. The credential of copyright protection will be based on the percentage of work done when the music is created partly by the computer and humans. Evidence of areas where the artist contributed to the original work and the computer must be presented when determining the fair amount of credit distributed. As Dr. Harrington (2023) explained, the most humans could own would be 50% since they collaborated with the AI. Given that AI will not be protected by copyright as there is no specific author, the portions created by the AI will fall under the public domain, and anyone can use them without violating copyright infringement. The AI company and developers cannot be considered authors since they are the authors of the technology, not the works generated from within the technologies. Individuals may only use the areas created by the AI computer, not the regions copyrighted to the artist. For example, suppose the artist wrote the lyrics and made the melody and beat from a computer to produce the chorus of a song. In that

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

7 COPYRIGHT IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) case, anyone can use the chorus's music without being liable for copyright infringement since a human being does not own it. When the compositions are solely AI-generated from analyzing other copyrighted music that is not owned by the person working with the AI, the content will not be subject to copyright protection since machines entirely create the work. The credits for the compositions generated solely from the AI computer will fall under the public domain as a human does not own it. Even though the person who used the AI to create the song has no ownership or copyright of the work, the human will ultimately be responsible for the consequences of publishing the content because they are generating profit from it. Thus, they may be faced with violation of copyright infringement. Suppose the similarity between the two works is 40% or more. In that case, the owner of the copyrighted music will have the right to receive their righteous credit for the copyrighted areas used in the song, while the remaining credit will be under the public domain. Because the person working with the AI did not own the copyrighted music and did not show contributions to the song, they would not have the rights to perform the song with the copyrighted music without the consent of the owner. Who Is to Blame? Having a clear understanding of how AI-generated songs can be copyrighted when they become mega-hits in the future. However, an important issue that needs to be discussed is what happens when elements created by AI infringe the copyright of existing works. Who would be liable for the violation of copyright infringement? In many cases, if the copyright owner of the existing work – the plaintiff – wants to sue for copyright infringement, the person who used the AI would be the defendant. Even though the person who used the AI did not contribute to the creation of the music and did not know what the computer would output, they are the ones who

8 COPYRIGHT IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) released the AI-generated song to the public and are generating large amounts of profit from it. Individuals should know the potential risks of relying on AI to produce work. Therefore, to defend themselves from copyright infringement, the person who used the AI must provide evidence that they were not aware of – or have access to – the copyrighted work created by the AI, the two pieces are not substantially similar, and that it exceeds a certain threshold of creativity (Zirpoli, 2023). The plaintiff could sue the AI user for copyright infringement if the new record exceeded the threshold of the similarity test to the original record and did not show progress in uniqueness and creativity. However, suppose the AI users prove they are unaware that the output music is copyrighted. In that case, the plaintiff and the AI user may sue the software developer and company of the AI system for the invasion of privacy and consumer safety and the violations of intellectual property protection. Even though the AI company and the developer do not earn profits for the AI-generated songs, the AI is controlled by the developer under the AI company and receives payments from the music company to use the product; thus, both parties will be responsible for copying the original work without the consent from the copyright owner. Conclusion Copyright in the music industry is complex yet essential. It protects the original works of the righteous owners and grants them exclusive rights to decide what they can or cannot do with their works with exceptions and limitations. As the world is continuously evolving and technologies are accelerating at an incredibly rapid speed, it has created opportunities and significant challenges for the music industry. The traditional purpose of copyright laws is only to protect works created by human beings. As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly common in the music business, Congress will likely revise the copyright law and add a “seventh

9 COPYRIGHT IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) exclusive right” to address AI-generated music. Understanding the areas subject to copyright protection and the risks of utilizing AI applications is vital to allow AI users, copyrighted owners, and AI companies to better adapt and protect themselves in the evolving world.

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

10 COPYRIGHT IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) References Harrington, M. E. (2023). Copyright in the age of artificial intelligence, chapter 2. Berklee Online. https://bocce.online.berklee.edu/#/16522/BMB-515.01/16603/2/512810-assignment-2_- copyright-in-the-age-of-artificial-intelligence Smith-Muller, T. (2023). AI music: what musicians need to know. Berklee Online. https://online.berklee.edu/takenote/ai-music-what-musicians-need-to-know/ U.S. Copyright Office. (n.d.). The evolution of copyright law. Copyright.gov. https://www.copyright.gov/history/copyright-exhibit/evolution/ U.S. Copyright Office & Library of Congress. (2023). Artificial intelligence and copyright. Federal Register. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/08/30/2023-18624/artificial- intelligence-and-copyright Zirpoli, C. T. (2023). Generative artificial intelligence and copyright law. Congressional Research Service. https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB10922#:~:text=A %20final%20question%20is%20who,company%20could%20potentially%20be %20liable .

L02_BMB-515

Related Documents