31. July 2025
‘A missed opportunity’. With these words, forty European rightsholder organisations representing artists and the creative industries across Europe open a joint declaration strongly criticising the European Commission’s recently published AI implementation package associated with the AI Act. In their statement, the organisations warn that the Commission risks undermining fundamental principles of law.
The declaration specifically criticises the implementation package’s Code of Practice – the so-called GPAI Code of Practice – intended to set out guidelines on how AI service providers must disclose the training data used in developing their systems. The organisations argue that the guidelines are too vague and weakly worded and serve the interests of AI providers rather than the rights holders the AI Act was meant to protect.
Among the forty organisations representing artists and creative industries across Europe is GESAC, Koda’s European umbrella organisation.
We are disappointed by the level of ambition in the Commission’s new code of practice. We hope the Danish government will use its EU presidency to put pressure on the Commission
- Mette Vestergaard Andersen, Director of Business Development at Koda
The rights management organisations point out that, in its current form, the code of practice effectively undermines the possibility of enforcing copyright. Since AI service providers are not obliged to disclose detailed information about the training data they use, it becomes virtually impossible for rightsholders to identify whether their works have been used to train AI services – and if so, whether this has happened without permission.
The organisations are particularly concerned that the code will create opaque practices that could lead to widespread copyright infringement. The lack of transparency not only weakens rightsholders’ legal position but also risks undermining the trust that is essential for the responsible development and use of AI in Europe.
Says Mette Vestergaard Andersen, Director of Business Development at Koda:
”After a long and thorough process involving rightsholders, collective management organisations and industry stakeholders, we are left with an implementation package that offers more advantages to AI providers than to the rightsholders the AI Regulation was supposed to protect. The level of ambition in the code is worryingly low, and we are disappointed. Despite the good intentions of the AI Regulation, the Commission has missed the mark badly with this code of practice. It risks opening the floodgates for AI services to exploit the work of musicians and artists without payment or permission.”
In their joint declaration, the European rightsholder organisations urge the European Commission in the strongest possible terms to revise its proposal. Koda is now also calling on the Danish government to take up the issue.
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