LAST UPDATE | 14 Jul

THE SCRIPT’S DANNY O’Donoghue paid a visit to Leinster House today to tell politicians that they need to do more to protect musicians and artists from artificial intelligence. 

A private members’ motion, tabled by Sinn Féin arts spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh, is calling on the government to introduce stronger copyright protections, ensure creators are fairly paid when their work is used by AI companies.

Ó Snodaigh also wants the government to use Ireland’s upcoming EU Council Presidency to lead efforts on the issue across Europe. 

The proposal has been backed by organisations including the Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO), The Ivors Academy and the Screen Composers Guild of Ireland, alongside musicians including O’Donoghue, Something Happens singer Tom Dunne,  Soda Blonde’s Faye O’Rourke and Snow Patrol’s Iain Archer. 

Among the measures contained in the motion are calls for legislation guaranteeing licensing, fair remuneration, transparency and opt-out rights for creators, as well as a ban on public arts funding being used for AI-generated content. 

Avalanche of AI

Speaking to The Journal about why he decided to come to Leinster House today to support the motion, O’Donoghue musicians are being buried under an avalanche of AI right now, and he fears for the future of music. 

“So every song is like a tiny business in itself and if someone was going around and stealing and taking all the sweets out of every single shop on Grafton Street, they’d be hauled into the police station straight away. I don’t mean to simplify it, but that’s what it is,” he said.

The Script frontman said there won’t be any Dermot Kennedys or The Scripts selling out the Aviva Stadium if it is allowed to continue, stating there won’t be any future artists. 

Speaking about musicians who are “low-level artists” now, that have one or two million streams on Spotify, he said: “That’s not a living. They can’t survive on that. We can survive because we sell tickets. We’re a big band. I’ve got a big catalogue.” 

However, he said bands that are uploading songs every week are being buried by AI.

“That’s why I’m doing it,” he said. 

“Hopefully, my own kids. I’ll have kids one day. But I believe that this legislation, which is being looked at now, we have to step on it the whole way because if it’s not, my kids won’t be able to be musicians,” he added. 

“I’m calling out to all the other musicians that weren’t able to make it today, if this gets passed, that’s brilliant, but we need you every single day,” he said, stating musicians need to start applying pressure to all TDs.

Christina Finn Christina Finn

“Get all the musicians down, and apply pressure to TDs, because they just want to be liked. They want the votes, and I’m sorry to kind of draw those battle lines. Fortunately, today we’ve got a massive amount of support. Fingers crossed it goes through. But like I said, it just needs big time awareness,” he told The Journal. 

Ahead of the debate in the Dáil this evening on the motion, O’Donoghue said he had discovered that 125 songs by The Script had been scraped and used as training data by five major AI companies without the band’s knowledge.

“I think it’s intellectual property theft on an industrial scale,” said O’Donoghue.

Artists and muscians gather in Leinster House ahead of a Dail motion debate on protections against AI. Christina Finn Christina Finn

O’Donoghue said he was delighted to hear that government will back the bill, as he said he did not expect Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael to support it. 

Former arts minister Catherine Martin, now head of policy in Ireland for The Ivors Academy, said Ireland had an opportunity to “lead the conversation on creators’ rights” during its Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

A government spokesperson confirmed that the motion will not be opposed by the government, stating that it is committed to ensuring that AI technologies are developed and used in a manner that is ethical, transparent and aligned with national, EU and international law.  

“The protection of copyright is a concern for our creative sector in relation to AI. Consent and remuneration for works used are a basic principle of copyright law.

“As Ireland holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, we have a valuable opportunity to help shape discussions on the future of Europe’s digital and creative economy, including measures needed to support a sustainable, pluralistic and trusted media sector,” they added. 

Last year’s report from the AI Advisory Council on the Impact of AI on Ireland’s Creative Sector further stressed the need for public policy to tackle income insecurity for artists and creatives. 

The motion is being debated in the Dáil this evening.