I was delighted to take part as a Legal Expert in the Nürnberg Pop programme on “Social Music and Artificial Intelligence”, discussing the legal and practical questions surrounding AI-generated music.
Together with Prof. Dr. Alexander Endreß, David Stammer and the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg, we explored some of the most pressing issues at the intersection of music, technology and copyright:
Is AI-generated music protected by copyright?
What happens when only part of a human music production is generated by AI?
Do existing copyright frameworks adequately reflect today’s creative and technological realities? How can AI-generated music be licensed and monetised in a fair and technically workable way?
One central point is that the legal debate should not focus exclusively on whether a song was “made by AI”. We also need to examine the human creative contribution, the training data used to develop the model, the possible reproduction of protected works, and the rights attached to the final recording. The discussion also highlighted that the future of AI in music will not be determined by technology alone. It will depend on transparency, responsible licensing models, fair remuneration, reliable provenance information and the way artists, audiences and the music industry choose to engage with these tools.
Many thanks to Prof. Dr. Alexander Endreß, David Stammer and the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg for the invitation and for creating a thoughtful space for an open and nuanced discussion. The conversation is only beginning. AI will not replace the need for legal and creative judgment — it will make that judgment more important.
#NürnbergPop #ArtificialIntelligence #AIMusic #Copyright #MusicBusiness #MusicIndustry #LegalTech #Popakademie
