Legendary musician Paul McCartney warned against proposed changes to UK copyright laws that would allow tech companies to freely train models on online content unless the copyright holder actively opts out. In excerpts from an interview with the BBC, McCartney said the government should do more to protect musicians and other artists. “We the people, you the government!” said. “You’re supposed to protect us. That’s your job. So if you make a bill, make sure you protect creative thinkers, creative artists, or you won’t have one. McCartney shouldn’t be against using AI to make music – indeed, he used the technology years ago to cleaning up old John Lennon demos and making what McCartney calls “the last Beatles record.” However, he suggests that AI (or at least AI with a copyright approach) poses an economic threat to artists. come up, and they write beautiful songs, and they don’t have it, and they don’t have anything to do with it, and anyone who wants to can just rip it off,” McCartney said. Adding that “money will be everywhere,” he said, financial gifts to make a hit song should go to the artist, not just “tech giants everywhere.”
