Adopted on 10 March with a very large majority, with 460 votes in favour, 71 against and 88 abstentions, the Initiative Report by Axel Voss takes some fundamental steps towards a better protection of rights holders and authors in the age of generative AI. At a press conference held in Strasbourg after the vote, Voss commented: "The motivation to create an Initiative Report was triggered by the development of technologies and the imbalance in rights. We must ensure that the use of data and intellectual property rights has value. We are asking for new approaches to how we can improve licensing and how we can better respond to possible infringements. We are trying to encourage the European Commission to address these issues.”

The Axel Voss resolution on AI and copyright underlines some key legal questions. First, the respect of existing rules and the adoption of new ones that require AI developers to be fully transparent about their use of copyrighted works, to fairly remunerate rights holders and to allow rights holders to control such use. The report addresses a fundamental imbalance between generative AI companies and rights holders, and it seeks solutions by calling on the European Commission to take specific action without delay.

On the use of copyrighted works to train AI, Voss asks the Commission to require full transparency and to establish a functioning licensing framework to restore the bargaining power of rights holders and enable fair remuneration, recognising collective management organisations. It also calls for an examination of compensation for past uses, and specific protections for the press and news media sector, the exploitation of which by AI systems threatens media pluralism. It further calls for measures allowing rights holders to exclude their works from AI training.

“Creators should be compensated when their work is used to train AI. Clear EU rules on copyright and AI training would give developers legal certainty about what they can use and how to license it, while ensuring creators are protected and fairly paid,” said rapporteur Voss.

The Federation of European Screen Directors, the Federation of Screenwriters in Europe and the Society of Audiovisual Authors all welcomed the vote. It is now up to the Commission to translate this political mandate into enforceable obligations without delay.