In a recent letter, the world’s largest record label, Universal Music Group (UMG), has made a plea to streaming giant Spotify and Apple Music. UMG asked both companies to cease “unauthorized scraping” of its music and audio recordings by artificial intelligence (AI) tools being used by the two companies.
The letter, obtained by Variety magazine, warned that UMG’s artists could be harmed by unauthorized AI scraping, which could potentially lead to stolen content and copyright infringements. The scraping could also threaten UMG artist’s rights to ownership of their music and other intellectual property.
The letter detailed UMG’s concerns over the artificial intelligence tools being used by the two companies. AI scraping involves the extraction of data, audio, or video content from a website without the explicit permission of the owner. AI scraping tools can be used to identify and copy large amounts of content from a website and can lead to the illegal distribution of copyrighted material.
UMG asked both companies to immediately cease the unauthorized use of AI scraping tools, noting that “such unauthorized scraping may violate the U.S. Copyright Act and the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.” UMG also requested that the companies provide detailed information about the extent of the AI scraping and how it could be detected in the future.
Both companies have already responded to the letter, denying any wrongdoing and providing information about the use of AI scraping tools within the companies. Spotify has stated that the tools they use adhere to UMG’s copyright protection policies, while Apple Music stated that they are always striving to stay within the law.
Some music and recording industry experts have argued that UMG’s plea is a sign that AI scraping has become a bigger concern to the label and other industry players. As the technology continues to improve, it is becoming easier and more efficient to copy and distribute copyrighted music without permission. This could potentially lead to a considerable loss in revenue for UMG and other record labels.
AI scraping is just one of the latest issues that UMG and other record labels are facing in an ever-evolving digital music landscape. It remains to be seen whether or not UMG’s plea will be successful, and it is likely that the industry’s reaction to the issue will have far-reaching implications for digital music going forward.
