AUTHORS’, PERFORMERS’ AND OTHER CREATIVE WORKERS’ ORGANISATIONS JOINT STATEMENT ON GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE EU AI ACT With 12 other authors’, performers’ & creative workers’ organisations,
we stated again the necessity of an effective implementation of the EU #AIAct.
Our fundamental rights as authors and performers need to be protected and transparency must be safeguarded. As representatives of authors, EWC co-signed with the Authors Group the Joint Statement on Generative AI.
We represent a broad coalition of organisations in Europe’s creative and cultural sectors, including music, visual, audiovisual, and literary authors; press publishers of newspapers, magazines and specialised publications, book, music, academic publishers; recorded music, film and audiovisual producers; publishers of films and audiovisual content online and offline; distributors and photo agencies.
We welcome the approval of the EU AI Act by the European Parliament, and we thank Members of the European Parliament for the essential role they have played in supporting creators and rightsholders throughout the legislative process.
The EU AI Act is world-first legislation that regulates the development and use of AI and sets an example for responsible AI governance. It provides first tools for rightsholders to enforce their rights, including the obligations on providers of General Purpose AI (GPAI) to make available a sufficiently detailed summary of the works used for training their models, to retain detailed technical documentation and to demonstrate they have put in place policies to comply with EU copyright law, regardless of where they acquired data or trained and developed their AI models.
While these obligations provide a first step for rightsholders to enforce their rights, we call on the European Parliament to continue to support the development of responsible and sustainable AI by ensuring that these important rules are put into practice in a meaningful and effective way, aligned with the objectives of the regulation.
To achieve this, it is essential that the template for the sufficient level of information that General Purpose AI model providers must make available enables effective exercise and enforcement of copyright and other fundamental rights, and that creative sectors and rightsholders are formally and directly involved in its drafting.
List of signatories
CEATL (European Council of Literary Translators’ Associations) was created in 1993 as a platform where literary translators’ associations from different European countries could exchange views and information, and join forces to improve status and working conditions of translators. It now unites 34 member associations from 26 countries across Europe, representing some 10,000 individual literary translators.
ECSA (European Composer and Songwriter Alliance) represents over 30,000 professional composers and songwriters in 28 European countries. With 58 member organisations across Europe, the Alliance speaks for the interests of music creators of art & classical music (contemporary), film & audiovisual music, as well as popular music.
EFJ (European Federation of Journalists) is the largest organisation of journalists in Europe, representing over 320,000 journalists in 73 journalists’ organisations across 45 countries. The EFJ is recognised by the European Union and the Council of Europe as the representative voice of journalists in Europe. The EFJ is a member of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).
EGAIR (European Guild for Artificial Intelligence Regulation) is a network of creatives and associations from all over Europe, lobbying for the protection of artists’ works and data from AI companies. Originally founded by MeFu, the Italian association of comic book creators, EGAIR now represents over 20.000 creatives, artists and associations.
EWC (European Writers’ Council) is the world’s largest federation representing solely authors from the book sector and constituted by 49 national professional writers’ and literary translators’ associations from 31 countries. EWC members comprise over 220.000 professional authors, writing and publishing in 33 languages.
FERA (Federation of European Screen Directors) represents film and TV directors at European level, with 48 directors’ associations as members from 35 countries. Founded in 1980, FERA speaks for more than 20,000 European screen directors, representing their cultural, creative and economic interests.
FIA (International Federation of Actors) is a global union federation representing performers‘ trade unions, guilds and professional associations in about 70 countries. In a connected world of content and entertainment, it stands for fair social, economic and moral rights for audio-visual performers working in all recorded media and live theatre.
FIM (International Federation of Musicians) is the only body representing professional musicians and their trade unions globally, with members in about 65 countries covering all regions of the world. Founded in 1948, FIM is recognised as an NGO by diverse international authorities such as the ILO, WIPO, UNESCO, the European Commission, the European Parliament or the Council of Europe.
FSE (Federation of Screenwriters in Europe) is a network of national and regional associations, guilds and unions of writers for the screen in Europe, created in June 2001. It comprises 25 organisations from 19 countries, representing more than 7,000 screenwriters in Europe.
IAO (International Artist Organisation) is the umbrella association for national organisations advocating for the rights and interests of the Featured Artists in the music industry. Our main interests are transparency, the protection of intellectual property rights and a fair reflection of the value an artist’s work generates.
IFJ (International Federation of Journalists) is the world’s largest organisation of journalists, representing 600,000 media professionals from 187 trade unions and associations in more than 140 countries.
UNI MEI – UNI – Media, Entertainment and Arts unites over 140 unions and guilds to raise standards and enforce rights for more than 500.000 creatives, technicians and auxiliary workers. Together, our members work for a fair, inclusive, equal, and sustainable global entertainment industry and a just transformation.
UVA (United Voice Artists) is a global coalition of voice acting guilds, associations, and unions that have united to pursue their shared goals of protecting and preserving the act of creating, in particular, through the human voice. This collaborative effort brings together prominent associations and unions from the European Union, including France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium, and Poland, as well as organizations in Switzerland, Turkey, the United States of America, Africa and in South America.