Following the publication of the draft report on Cultural and Creative Sectors in the Age of AI (2025/2180(INI)) by Rapporteur MEP Hélder Sousa Silva, AEPO-ARTIS welcomes this important and timely initiative.
The draft report represents a valuable step towards addressing the challenges and opportunities that artificial intelligence presents for the cultural and creative sectors. In response, AEPO-ARTIS is proposing a number of amendments aimed at ensuring that performers’ essential contribution to cultural creation is fully recognised and that their rights are adequately protected in the evolving AI landscape.
AEPO-ARTIS already presented its priorities during the stakeholder dialogue held at the European Parliament on 2 September, organised by MEP Hélder Sousa Silva.
AEPO-ARTIS calls for:
1) Performers to be explicitly recognised
The report should make clear that references to “rights holders” must cover all rights holders, including authors and performers, and not only producers. In addition it should be clarified that provisions referring to “authors” and “copyright” should also apply to “performers” and “related rights”.
2) A.R.T. — Authorisation, Remuneration and Transparency — to be respected
Performers must have meaningful rights when their performances are used to train, develop or generate AI systems and content, including appropriate authorisation, transparency and fair remuneration.
3) Collective management to be recognised as an essential licensing tool
It helps balance the bargaining power of performers and supports a healthy and efficient licensing market, while facilitating fair remuneration for those performers
4) The impact of the AI substitution effect on human creativity to be assessed.
The potential replacement of human creative contributions by AI must be properly considered, with safeguards to protect human creativity and sustainable creative careers.
AEPO-ARTIS calls not only on the rapporteur and shadow rapporteurs, but on all Members of the CULT Committee, to support amendments that ensure the final report properly reflects the contribution and rights of performers.
As AI continues to transform the cultural and creative sectors, Europe must ensure that technological development goes hand in hand with the protection of human creativity, fair remuneration and the rights of all creators and performers.
You can see the list of proposed amendments here.
