A coalition of 227 rights organizations worldwide has called on France‘s National Assembly to pass a bill that would establish a legal presumption that AI companies have used copyrighted works to train their systems.
The orgs are members of CISAC, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, and made their call on the occasion of its centenary General Assembly in Paris on Thursday (June 4).
The legislation, known as the Darcos bill after its author, Senator Laure Darcos, was adopted unanimously by the French Senate in April but has not been scheduled for debate in the lower house.
The statement was published today (June 8) by SACEM, the French collecting society for songwriters, composers, and music publishers, and one of five societies that co-hosted the assembly.
Last month, a coalition of 81 cultural and media organizations in France made a similar call for the National Assembly to schedule the bill.
The bill cleared a legal review by France‘s Council of State in March, which found it compatible with the French Constitution and EU law.
It was left off the agenda for the chamber’s June session, according to reports in the French press.
“Behind what some euphemistically call ‘data’ are, in fact, our books, films, music, photographs, press articles, and millions of other creative works,” the 227 authors’ societies said in the statement.
“The large-scale use of our works to train AI systems – without authorization or compensation – constitutes the greatest plundering of creative and artistic works ever perpetrated.”
The Darcos bill would insert a presumption into the French Intellectual Property Code that AI providers have used copyrighted works, unless they can prove otherwise.
In practical terms, it would reverse the burden of proof in AI copyright disputes in France: rather than creators having to show their work was used to train a model, AI companies would need to show it was not.
“It creates no new rights,” the societies said of the Darcos bill.
“Its purpose is to make existing rights under French and European law effectively enforceable by strengthening transparency requirements for AI providers.”
“On the occasion of CISAC‘s centennial, the millions of human creators represented by the 227 authors’ societies gathered in Paris solemnly call upon members of the French National Assembly to adopt this legislation without delay,” the statement said.
A vote in favor, the 227 societies said, would “send a clear message: the development of AI must not come at the expense of culture.”
The statement said France “invented modern copyright” and urged the country to “once again lead the way.”
CISAC was founded in Paris in 1926 and represents more than five million creators across music, audiovisual, drama, literature, and visual arts.
Its centenary General Assembly was opened by CISAC President Björn Ulvaeus, the ABBA co-founder, who used his keynote to address AI’s impact on human creativity.
In his speech, Ulvaeus flagged a “fork in the road” for the industry in the GEMA v. Suno and US Suno fair-use rulings expected this summer.
A ruling in the GEMA v. Suno case, heard by a court in Munich, is due later this month.
The assembly also saw creators sign the Paris Commitment, a separate declaration calling for the protection of human creativity in the AI era.
In the statement, the 227 authors’ societies said: “Creators’ rights are not an obstacle to innovation; they are the foundation of its legitimacy, sustainability, and success.”Music Business Worldwide
