Paul McCartney says he fears AI will rip off artists

LONDON — Paul McCartney urged the British government not to make a change to copyright laws that he says could let artificial intelligence companies rip off artists.

The government is consulting on whether to let tech firms use copyrighted material to help train artificial intelligence models unless the creators explicitly opt out.

McCartney told the BBC that would make it harder for artists to retain control of their work and undermine Britain’s creative industries.

“You get young guys, girls, coming up, and they write a beautiful song, and they don’t own it, and they don’t have anything to do with it. And anyone who wants can just rip it off,” the 82-year-old former Beatle said in an interview to be broadcast Sunday. An extract was released Saturday by the BBC.

“The truth is, the money’s going somewhere. When it gets on the streaming platforms, somebody is getting it, and it should be the person who created it. It shouldn’t be some tech giant somewhere.”

Britain’s center-left Labour Party government says it wants to make the U.K. a world leader in AI. In December, it announced a consultation into how copyright law can “enable creators and right holders to exercise control over, and seek remuneration for, the use of their works for AI training” while also ensuring “AI developers have easy access to a broad range of high-quality creative content.”

Publishers, artists’ organizations and media companies, including The Associated Press, have banded together as the Creative Rights in AI Coalition to oppose weakening copyright protections.

“We’re the people, you’re the government. You’re supposed to protect us. That’s your job,” McCartney said. “So you know, if you’re putting through a bill, make sure you protect the creative thinkers, the creative artists, or you’re not going to have them.”