Generative AI and the future of Music in South Africa
The rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has caused unprecedented challenges in many sectors across the globe, especially in the creative industry. AI is generally understood as a computer that can carry out the cognitive functions of human beings, such as thinking, reasoning, decision-making and problem solving. Extending these cognitive abilities into the music industry, generative AI systems can not only compose songs, but replicate and mimic existing songs and voices of artists. The capabilities of generative AI systems to create works the same way that human beings do raises questions of authorship, possible copyright infringements and the protection of artist’s rights in an algorithmic driven era.
These advancements are causing cracks in the foundation of the Copyright Act 98 of 1978 (“Act”), particularly pertaining to authorship and originality. The Act, alongside the Copyright Amendment Bill, 2017 (“Amendment Bill”), recognises natural or juristic persons as authors. Generative AI systems, however, are non-human, and neither the Act nor the Copyright Amendment Bill make provision on whether artistic works created by AI systems are eligible for protection.
Another contentious issue is the training of generative AI systems. Music generating AI systems are trained using existing songs, the voices of existing artists and other musical compositions which may be copyright protected. Using copyrighted compositions of songs as input material to train AI systems results in the likelihood of the output generated by these systems to constitute copyright infringements, especially because permission is not obtained from the copyright owners. A perfect example would be the song called Heart On My Sleeve, which was created using a generative AI system. The record label, Universal Musical Group claimed that the song was a copyright infringement because the voices of the artists signed under them, Drake and The Weekend, were used in that song, resulting in its removal from all streaming services.
In the South African context, a copyright infringement of that nature has not yet been reported. However, the originality of music creation has been the subject of a debate, arising from the song Suka by Rea Gopane, which is South Africa’s first AI generated Amapiano song. There are mixed reviews on the creation of the song, one debate applauding the artist’s creative incorporation of AI as a tool to his advantage. However, others have questioned the artist’s authenticity and whether he can truly encapsulate the human-experience of the genre.
The circumstances surrounding both songs show that there is an urgent need for AI regulation, which addresses the protection of the rights of existing artists, the use of AI systems and the status of works that are created by AI systems which are trained using copyrighted musical elements.
To address copyright infringement arising from the training of AI systems on existing artistic works, a licensing framework could be introduced whereby AI developers are required to compensate artists or share profits generated from the use of their songs or voices for both training and commercial purposes.
One such licensing system was employed by a musical artist, Grimes, who collaborated with an AI company to allow creators to create songs using her voice. The condition for the use of her voice was that profits gained by creators using this software should be split with her. In the absence of a licensing agreement providing for the sharing of royalties, the use of her voice would constitute copyright infringement.
Beyond just the music industry, the Copyright Laws must be amended to address AI generated works.
For more information on commercial law and intellectual property law, Artificial Intelligence, contact Xuba & Associates Attorneys Inc. on 010 500 1571 / www.xlaw.co.za.