On June 24, 2024, Roland Corporation, alongside over 50 organizations, announced their support for the "Principles for Music Creation with AI" introduced by Roland and Universal Music Group in March of this year. You can explore these principles here: [Principles for Music Creation with AI](https://aiformusic.info/).
In light of recent lawsuits against generative AI companies like Suno, supporting a set of guiding principles is essential as will be getting to some legal clarity on “fair-use” interpretations. Creators should be protected and markets should be able to innovate with clear legal guidelines. With this in mind, I see three key areas where these principles can be applied: Legislation, Technology, and Education and Community
Legislation
The coming months will clarify how courts interpret "fair use" in training models and the penalties for unlicensed use of copyrighted data. These legal decisions will shape industry practices, emphasizing the need for a framework that incentivizes compliance and penalizes non-compliance. This framework could support companies entering the AI music space and help small, independent artists protect their intellectual property.
Technology
Technological innovation can drive compliance and efficiency. New and existing technologies should embed compliance and best practices in their platforms while providing profit incentives (in the way of operating efficiencies) for businesses to implement those solutions. Content Identification and Content Management are crucial areas where technology can help address challenges like attribution and payments. Advanced techniques in audio fingerprinting and sound isolation, combined with integrated data sets, could lead to effective solutions.
Education and Community
There is an opportunity for the organizations mentioned in the press release to explore the potential for developing an industry association. If established, it could present opportunities for funding market solutions, providing legal guidance to its members, and advancing AI use cases without sacrificing creator control of intellectual property. There is already good work being done here by others.
In working together and embracing the “Principles for Music Creation in AI” the supporting organizations can pave the way for a more transparent, ethical, and innovative future in AI-driven music creation.
Hopefully, the support shown by these supporting organizations is a sign of more to come in the way of fairness and transparency.