Nordic music organisations: AI companies must respect copyright

Artificial intelligence and generative AI are rapidly changing the way music is created and consumed. Therefore, it is necessary to establish clear frameworks so that the technology is integrated without undermining the economic ecosystem of music – and without displacing human artistry.

That is the view held by the five Nordic music rights organisations – Koda, STEF (Iceland), STIM (Sweden), TEOSTO (Finland), and TONO (Norway) – who have now united to send a clear message: AI companies must respect the rights of music creators, act transparently, and enter into licensing agreements with rightsholders.

Demand for payment at all stages of the AI value chain
A joint statement from the five organisations says:
‘AI services use copyrighted music to train models and generate content that directly competes with music created by humans. Such use must, of course, be based on prior permission and on licensing agreements which ensure that rightsholders receive fair remuneration, and payments must be made at all stages of the AI value chain.’

The joint position includes three principles stating that licensing agreements must be entered into for three key stages in the AI process:

• Training AImodels – this stage concerns the use of copyright-protected music to develop AI models, including data collection and dataset construction.
• Providing AI services to the public – the stage when AI tools are made available to users of the services, both individuals and companies.
• Utilising AI-generated music – this stage concerns the use of music that is generated using AI services.

Licensing at all these stages is crucial to ensure fair remuneration for rightsholders and to protect the value of human creativity.

The five music organisations also propose the introduction of a so-called rule of presumption: If AI companies do not disclose which works have been used for training, it will be presumed that copyright-protected music has been used, which necessitates a licensing agreement.


Unauthorised use of music must be a thing of the past
The objective of the joint announcement from the five organisations is to ensure responsible use of copyright-protected music, thereby promoting a sustainable economy in which the rights of music creators are respected, and AI services’ use of music takes place on equal terms with other players in the music industry.

The CEO of Koda, Gorm Arildsen, asserts that the use of music in AI must be based on legality, transparency and fair competition, and that these principles must ensure that rightsholders receive fair remuneration.

‘When Koda’s members’ music is used in AI, our members must, of course, receive remuneration. We have the tools required to enter into licensing agreements with AI companies, and collective management organisations are ideally positioned to handle these usage scenarios. AI companies have, in the past two years, become billion-dollar businesses. So now, we and the other Nordic collective management organisations want to make it clear to both the tech industry and politicians that the wait-and-see approach and the unauthorised use of our music must be a thing of the past,’ he says.

In the joint announcement, the five organisations stress that they support innovation within AI while also safeguarding the sustainability and integrity of the creative sector.

The organisations are each working on more detailed licensing models based on the published joint principles and are ready to enter into agreements with AI companies.

Furthermore, they all call on AI stakeholders to actively cooperate with music creators to respect the creators’ rights and ensure legal clarity for all parties.

Joint declaration from Nordic music organisations

The five Nordic music rights organisations – Koda, STEF (Iceland), STIM (Sweden), TEOSTO (Finland), and TONO (Norway) – have adopted a set of joint principles for the licensing of generative AI technologies.

See the joint declaration