The European Parliament has spoken out in favour of stricter rules for the use of copyright-protected content by generative AI. With a large majority, the MEPs adopted a reportwhich is the European Commission calls for the further development of the legal framework for authors in the age of artificial intelligence.

The German Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer welcomed the initiative. In his view, large AI language models have often been trained with protected works without the consent of authors or without receiving remuneration. This practice should not be allowed to continue, emphasised Weimer. In future, creators must be given a greater share of the value created by AI applications.

The report of Parliament calls for, among other things, more transparency about which copyright-protected content is used in the training of AI systems. Furthermore, rights holders should receive appropriate remuneration if their works are used for training purposes.

This could have far-reaching consequences for the creative and media industries in Europe. The aim of the initiative is to adapt existing copyright rules to the reality of generative AI and to ensure that creatives do not merely act as data suppliers for new technologies. The European Commission is now called upon to examine how corresponding regulations can be implemented at EU level.