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The Fight Over AI Is Just Beginning, and Artists Like Elton John Are Leading the Way

In the AI copyright debate, Elton John and other artists are getting involved in fighting tech companies that are trying to relax copyright law.

So far, though, the debate over the copyright issues involved in training AI algorithms follows a familiar pattern: Rightsholders want a licensing structure to generate royalties, while some technology companies maintain that they don’t need permission and others just proceed without it. The situation in the U.S., which seemed to depend on the result of major label lawsuits against Suno and Udio — in which the two sides are negotiating — has been complicated by President Trump’s firing of the Register of Copyrights. Other artists are with them, including Paul McCartney and the acts behind the “silent album.” There’s strength in numbers, and the days when companies like Napster could give Metallica a reputational black eye are long since over.

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