The House of Representatives wants faster action against music theft by AI apps

This article was last updated on May 7, 2024

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The House of Representatives wants faster action against music theft by AI apps

A majority of the House of Representatives wants the cabinet to take more action against the use of voices and texts of Dutch artists by artificial intelligence. This is evident from a survey A.D about the issue.

Artists are very concerned about AI (artificial intelligence) providers who can create songs with the artist’s voice and in the same style without the artist’s permission. Anyone using an AI app like Suno or Udio can create a song using the voices of existing artists in half a minute.

Herman van Veen tells the newspaper that he is very concerned about this and fears that it is already too late. “Artificial intelligent is, I fear, smarter than us.” According to Van Veen, “it is high time to get legislation and regulations off the ground like lightning so that, as I sang at the time in Hilversum III, ‘but everyone had their own voice’ will remain the fact.”

Not the end of times

NSC MP Jesse Six Dijkstra agrees that the House is relatively late in taking action against these AI models, but “we are not at the end of time”. In the NOS Radio 1 Journaal, Dijkstra says that it is bad that “their music is used without permission and/or compensation for the artist”.

I makes music within a minute and that is what this band is concerned about

At the same time, legislation is coming, says Dijkstra. “There is a European law, the Digital Services Act, that has yet to be implemented in the Netherlands. The cabinet had to send this to Parliament and that happened quite late. This means that the supervisor cannot yet get to work.”

The Digital Services Act came into effect last summer. This law should limit the power of large internet companies and oblige the platforms to intervene in illegal content. Until that law has been translated into national legislation, artists cannot make a stand against AI apps.

Minister of Digital Affairs

GroenLinks-Pvda believes that there is still “far too little attention to digital matters”. In the AD, MP Barbara Kathman calls for a Minister of Digital Affairs who will tackle problems in this area. NSC member Dijkstra also advocates a future minister with expert knowledge. “Whether that is a minister or state secretary, these are matters that are now at the formation table.”

It is not only GroenLinks-PvdA and NSC that believe that the legislation should be hastened. Many other parties, such as VVD, SP, Volt, SGP and BBB, join this. “The Netherlands is too slow and artists are suffering from this,” Sandra Beckerman (SP) told AD.