Teosto’s Contribution to the European Commission Call for Evidence on the AI Strategy for the Cultural and Creative Sectors 

Teosto’s Contribution to the European Commission Call for Evidence on the AI Strategy for the Cultural and Creative Sectors 

Teosto, the Finnish Composers’ Copyright Society, welcomes the European Commission’s initiative to develop an AI Strategy for the Cultural and Creative Sectors. Teosto is a collective management organisation representing composers, lyricists, arrangers and music publishers in Finland. 

Teosto considers the Commission’s initiative both important and timely: artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how music and other creative content are created, distributed, consumed and commercially exploited. While artificial intelligence offers significant opportunities for innovation, new tools for creative work and improved accessibility of cultural content, making use of these opportunities requires that the development of AI is based on respect for copyright, transparency and a fair contractual framework. 

Teosto joins and supports the views presented in the submission by GESAC, the European Grouping of Societies of Authors in this Call for Evidence, and endorses GESAC’s key messages on the need to place creators, authors’ rights, cultural diversity and fair remuneration at the centre of the forthcoming AI Strategy. 

The strategy should therefore be based on a clear principle: AI should strengthen human creativity, not be built on the unauthorised exploitation of it. The strategy should help strengthen Europe’s creative economy, cultural diversity and creators’ ability to operate in the age of artificial intelligence. From Teosto’s perspective, the success of the strategy depends on recognising the central role of copyright, licensing markets and collective management in building a responsible AI ecosystem. The AI economy and the creative economy can grow together only if the use of protected works is based on authorisation, transparency and appropriate remuneration. 

1. European creators must be guaranteed a fair share of the value created by the AI ecosystem  

Teosto considers that the development of generative AI is based and built to a significant extent on existing creative content. Music, lyrics and other creative works form an essential part of the material that enables AI services to develop and generate economic value. 

For this reason, a sustainable AI ecosystem must be based on transparency, the authorisation of rightsholders and appropriate remuneration. Teosto’s core position is that the use of copyright-protected musical works for AI training, development, provision and commercial exploitation requires authorisation from rightholders and appropriate remuneration. This principle applies both to the input phase of the AI value chain and to the output phase, where AI-generated content may substitute or displace human-created music in the market. 

The value created by creators cannot be transferred to AI operators without compensation, and cultural diversity cannot be based on the use of local and European repertoires for AI training and AI services without functioning licensing mechanisms. The European Union must ensure that value creation in the AI market also supports those creators whose music enables the development and operation of AI systems. 

The AI strategy should therefore ensure that all AI services offered in the EU comply with EU copyright rules, regardless of where the service provider is established or where the AI model has been trained. Otherwise, European rightholders will be placed in an unfair position in relation to large non-EU technology companies. 

2. Transparency is a fundamental requirement for the AI market 

Teosto considers it essential that developers and providers of AI systems operate transparently. 

Rightsholders must have access to information on: 

• what materials have been used to train AI models; 
• on what basis those materials have been collected; 
• how rightsholders’ rights have been taken into account; and 
• how AI-generated content makes use of protected works. 

Transparency is a prerequisite for the realisation of copyright, the functioning of markets and trust as technological development accelerates. 

3. The sustainability of the creative sectors must be strengthened 

Teosto is concerned about the impact of AI on the market for creative work and on creators’ livelihoods. Content generated by generative AI increasingly competes for the same audiences, visibility and revenue streams as human-created content. If creators do not receive remuneration for the use of their work in AI systems, there is a risk that the economic foundation of creative work will be weakened. 

The European Union should explicitly acknowledge and address the substitution effect and develop dedicated mechanisms that enable creators to participate in the economic value generated by AI in the long term, including through continuous remuneration for the use of AI-generated content enabled by their creative work. 

Teosto considers that it is not sufficient to focus on detecting and preventing copyright infringing outputs, as the key challenge lies in the broader market impact of GenAI: AI-generated content may substitute human-created works even where no identifiable elements of the original works appear in the output.  

4. Unfair contractual practices must be addressed 

Teosto considers that the development of AI increases pressure towards contractual models in which creators waive future remuneration in exchange for a one-off payment. 

Such buy-out agreements may lead to situations where creators have no real possibility to influence how their works, voice, image or other creative contribution will be used in the future. 

The EU must strengthen creators’ bargaining position and ensure that remuneration based on proportional use remains a core principle of the European copyright system also in the age of AI. 

5. Cultural diversity must be safeguarded 

Teosto emphasises that the AI strategy must promote Europe’s cultural and linguistic diversity. Availability of content alone is not enough. It is equally important which content algorithms make visible and recommend to users. 

Teosto supports measures that: 

• strengthen the discoverability of European works; 
• safeguard the visibility of smaller language areas; 
• promote cultural diversity in digital services; and 
• prevent markets from becoming concentrated in the hands of a few global operators. 

6. The AI Strategy should address music streaming to ensure balanced development of the market 

The music sector provides a concrete example of how algorithms and data-driven systems affect the visibility, use and remuneration of creative work. 

Teosto considers that the functioning of recommendation systems should be examined more openly than at present, and the AI strategy should support greater transparency concerning such systems. In addition, market developments relating to the impacts of AI and AI-related potential abuses and fraudulent practises should be monitored systematically. 

Teosto supports independent European monitoring that produces information on the impacts of AI on music creation, availability, discoverability and insights for healthier operation of the market. 

7. Collective management organisations are a part of the solution 

Teosto considers that collective management organisations have an important role in building functioning licensing and remuneration solutions, and should be recognised as strategic partners in building a sustainable AI ecosystem. 

Collective management enables efficient, scalable and fair systems that benefit both companies developing AI and creative authors. At the same time, it supports European cultural diversity and the continuity of creative work. 

Conclusions 

Teosto urges the European Commission to build the AI strategy for the cultural and creative sectors on the following principles: 

• Full respect for copyright. 
• Transparency in the training, development and provision of AI models and services. 
• Rightsholders’ authorisation and appropriate remuneration for the use of creative content in the entire AI value chain Strengthening the economic sustainability of the creative sectors. 
• Promoting cultural and linguistic diversity. 
• Fair competition and a level playing field for all market participants. 

Teosto believes that Europe can become the world’s leading environment for human-centric and responsible AI. However, this requires that AI policy places at its centre the creators whose creative work also forms the foundation for future AI innovation. 

Finnish Composers’ Copyright Society Teosto ry 

Risto Salminen, CEO 
Jenni Kyntölä, Chief Legal Officer