BumaStemra’s expanded position on AI

The past year has seen a tremendous acceleration in AI-related developments. The emergence and rapid adoption of AI applications such as ChatGPT and the many different GenAI music generating technologies has not gone unnoticed. It’s prominent role within society and many facets of the creative industries has quickly become apparent when envisioning the future. Despite offering promising new possibilities, concerns have arisen regarding the protection of human creativity and the current widescale unauthorized use of protected repertoire for the training of AI applications without any form of compensation.

In response to these developments BumaStemra is exercising its right to opt-out in accordance with Article 15o.1 of the Dutch Copyright Act (implementing article 4 in Directive (EU) 2019/790). Henceforth, entities seeking to engage in text & data mining of BumaStemra’s repertoire for AI development purposes will be required to obtain prior authorization from BumaStemra. This measure aims to ensure fair compensation for the authors, composers, and music publishers represented by BumaStemra.

AI tools encompass a wide range of applications, many of which rely on training data sets containing copyrighted works. The use of such tools raises pertinent copyright concerns, particularly when training data sets involve copyrighted content obtained through data mining.

By exercising its opt-out right, BumaStemra seeks to uphold the exclusive rights of creators by making text and data mining operations conditional to prior authorization. As a consequence, entities utilizing BumaStemra’s works to train their databases and conduct text and data mining activities must obtain explicit authorization from BumaStemra, subject to terms that ensure fair compensation for the authors, composers and publishers represented by BumaStemra.

BumaStemra’s decision does not aim to impede the progress of artificial intelligence. On the contrary, it acknowledges the vast potential of AI as a creative tool for musicians. Through this opt-out provision, BumaStemra aims to establish a sustainable and ethical balance between the rights of the creators and publishers it represents and the aspirations of the AI industry players.

Requests for the use of works managed by BumaStemra for text and data mining purposes should be directed to BumaStemra at online@bumastemra.nl.