Tuesday's Historic Vote: A Step Forward for Production Music Rights
Last week, we at Felt Music added our voice to the growing coalition of creators and rights holders calling for stronger copyright protections regarding AI training. This coalition, which Baroness Kidron noted, includes over 40,000 artists, musicians, and writers, achieved a significant victory yesterday. Yesterday's House of Lords vote (145-126) in favour of amendments to the Data Bill marks a crucial victory for our creative industries.
As a production music company managing over 35,000 copyrights and supporting hundreds of composers, we particularly welcome Baroness Kidron's successful amendments. Her powerful statement that this cannot be "a forced marriage" between AI and creative industries perfectly captures our position.
The vote reinforces our call for an explicit opt-in system, rather than the proposed opt-out mechanism. With approximately 50,000 professionals in the UK production music sector alone, the stakes couldn't be higher. These composers and musicians have built sustainable careers through creating valuable copyrights that generate both current and future income streams.
While we embrace technological advancement, we maintain that:
- Tech companies should negotiate directly with rights holders for training data
- Fair compensation must be mandatory for use of creative works
- The UK's position as a global leader in production music must be protected
- Industry structures built over decades deserve careful consideration in any technological transition
The House of Lords' decision shows that parliamentarians understand our concerns about quick wins with disastrous consequences. As we stated in our recent open letter, rushing through these changes would effectively detonate a 'tech bomb' that would obliterate established income streams and industry structures without proper consideration or transition planning. As Baron Berkeley noted, our copyright law must indeed "counter the increasing theft of intellectual property by artificial intelligence companies."
This vote represents progress, but our work continues. We need clear legislative protection ensuring that AI development enhances rather than undermines our creative industries. The production music sector stands ready to embrace innovation - but only on terms that respect creators' rights and sustain our vibrant creative ecosystem.
Natalie Dickens
Founder, Felt Music
