ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Topics related to authors’ rights & new technologies

Open letter for transparency in AI developement and respecting creators’ rights – ahead of the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council

May 7, 2025

Open letter to the attention of Ministers of Culture ahead of the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council on 12-13 May 2025 Brussels, 6 May 2025 PDF: Open letter Dear Ministers, We are writing to you on behalf of a coalition of organisations representing the…

Protect Europe’s Creative Soul! EWC joins Open Letter to Commission

April 26, 2025

Artificial intelligence relies on our creative content to function at all. Without it, AI is blind, empty and speechless. Europe’s creative soul is being exploited. Let’s take action! Let’s get the EU to act! Protect Europe’s creative soul! (more…)

A CALL FOR TRANSPARENCY REGARDING AI GENERATED BOOKS – Joint Statement

April 23, 2025

Machine-made products that simulate creative works using generative AI should not benefit from authors’ rights legislations or generally be considered as cultural assets. The European Writers’ Council (EWC), the European Council of Literary Translators’ Association (CEATL) and the Federation of European Publishers (FEP) are calling…

WE ALL can‘t support THIS: EWC joins Open Letter by 40 European Cultural Organisations against the CoP

March 28, 2025

Joint statement by a coalition of authors, performers and other rightsholders active across the EU’s cultural and creative sectors regarding the third draft of the EU AI Act’s GPAI Code of Practice. The third draft of the GPAI Code of Practice undermines the objectives of…

Not fit for purpose: Writers, translators and journalists of the European text sector express strong opposition to the EU’s Code of Practice

March 21, 2025

Joint open letter by CEATL, EFJ and EWC to Executive Vice-President Virkkunen & the EU AI Board PDF of Joint Letter EWC CEATL EFJ (more…)

EWC urges UK Government: Don’t repeat EU’s devasting mistake on Copyright and AI

February 23, 2025

Instead of promoting a exception for Text and Data Mining, misinterpreted as “AI use” and together with a risky TDM opt-out regime, UK Government shall address the lack of transparency and licensing by AI providers, EWC pleas. In its response to the UK government’s extensive…

EWC, ESCA, CEATL and EU MEPs slammed AI Act’s Code of Practice and template, and the lack of respect towards cultural and creative professionals

February 19, 2025

Guardian: “EU accused of leaving ‘devastating’ copyright loophole in AI Act” London / Brussels, 19 February, 2025. The Guardian (UK) article is dedicated to the effects of the EU AI Act and the CDSM Directive of 2019/790. In particular, it warns of the active hindrance…

Joint Letter by 15 authors’ and performers’ organisations to Executive Vice-President Virkkunen and Commissioner Micallef

February 19, 2025

General-Purpose AI Code of Practice: Joint letter from authors and performers sent to Executive Vice-President Virkkunen and Commissioner Micallef (more…)

SPAIN: EWC supports its Spanish Members against abusive AI training

February 12, 2025

Spain’s cultural sector says “No, gracias” to Royal Decree – Survey shows: half of authors do not want to license works for AI Spain was pushing another threat for writers in the training of general-purpose AI models. By proposing an extended collective licensing (ECL) regime…

PARIS AI SUMMIT: 38 Cultural Organisations issue Charter on Culture and Innovation

February 10, 2025

Paris 2025 AI Action Summit The Paris AI Summit intends to promote reliable, sustainable and responsible AI. For the first time at this level, intellectual property is being discussed. (more…)

The Training of Generative AI Is Not Text and Data Mining: Study translated in English

December 18, 2024

The important study on AI and TDM (= text and data mining) of Prof. Dr. Tim W. Dornis, J.S.M. (Stanford) and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Sebastian Stober is now also available in the English translation, in German it was already published in the beginning of November 2024.…

Joint Statement: The Impact of AI on the European creative communities

December 4, 2024

Facing today’s reality and paving the way for the next EU policy agenda If properly enforced, the AI Act will be a step in the right direction but will not be sufficient for a meaningful AI strategy for the cultural and creative industries . Together with…

Statement on AI training by authors and artists

October 24, 2024

EWC supports the Statement on AI training and joins hundreds and thousands authors and artists: The unlicensed use of creative works for training generative AI is a major, unjust threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works, and must not be permitted. The…

EWC contribution to the AI Office consultation: Future-Proof AI Act

September 24, 2024

EWC responded to the Multi-stakeholder Consultation FUTURE-PROOF AI ACT: TRUSTWORTHY GENERALPURPOSE AI with the proviso that the premise of this consultation needs formal clarification. The exception(s) for text and data mining (Art. 3, Art. 4, Directive (EU) 2019/790) is inapplicable: The statutory language and text…

AI Pact: EWC contribution to the Selection of Topics

August 16, 2024

EWC urges the AI Office to not forget the sources of all AI development in the AI Pact: Authors, Artists and Performers The AI Act Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence entered into force on August 1, 2024. In this context,…

JOINT STATEMENT to Ursula von der Leyen and the new elected European Parliament on the impact of AI on the European creative community

July 23, 2024

13 AUTHORS’, PERFORMERS’ AND OTHER CREATIVE WORKERS’ ORGANISATIONS JOINT STATEMENT ON THE IMPACT OF AI ON THE European creative community On behalf of a coalition of organisations representing the collective voice of hundreds of thousands of writers, translators, performers, composers, songwriters, screen directors, screenwriters, visual…

THE EWC’s AI TOOL KIT FOR THE BOOK SECTOR

June 10, 2024

Recommendations by the European Writers’ Council (EWC) for writers and translators, publishers, booksellers, event organisers and further stakeholders of the book sector for bilateral and contractual agreements and technical requirements. This Tool Kit can be used by political decision-makers as well as AI providers who…

European Writers’ Council Convene in Helsinki to Address the Threat on Authorship – over 60 Representatives from 19 Countries in attendance

May 20, 2024

Press Release From 24th to 26th of May 2024 the European Writers’ Council (EWC) will invite the Writers’ Associations of Europe to gather for its most important annual meeting. This year, the Annual General Assembly will be held in Helsinki and be hosted by four…

Welcome to the EWC AGM 2024 in Helsinki

May 13, 2024

The EWC Annual General Meeting (AGM) and side events will take place from 24-26 May 2024 in Helsinki, Finland. On Friday a Reception by the City of Helsinki will be held in the City Hall and later on the over registered 50 delegates can enjoy…

EWC Burning Issues Forum 2024 – SITUATION ROOM: The threat on authorship

May 13, 2024

The EWC Burning Issues Forum – SITUATION ROOM: The threat on authorship. 25th May 2024, Helsinki. The program of the forum was developed by the European Writers’ Council (EWC) together with the Finnish hosts and co-sponsors, and will address issues of the present within the…

SoA Survey UK: A third of translators and quarter of illustrators losing work to AI

May 9, 2024

A quarter of illustrators (26%) and over a third of translators (36%) have already lost work due to generative AI. Around 1 in 10 translators (8%) and a smaller proportion of illustrators (5%) said they have used generative AI in their work because their publisher…

JOINT STATEMENT ON GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE EU AI ACT

April 25, 2024

AUTHORS’, PERFORMERS’ AND OTHER CREATIVE WORKERS’ ORGANISATIONS JOINT STATEMENT ON GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE EU AI ACT With 12 other authors’, performers’ & creative workers’ organisations, we stated again the necessity of an effective implementation of the EU #AIAct. Our fundamental rights as authors…

EWC at the Copyright Conference of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU

April 24, 2024

As part of the Belgian presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU), the FPS Economy invited experts and organisations to a two half-day copyright conference that took place in Namur on April 8 in the afternoon and April 9 in the morning. The…

EWC’s Ten Principles to regulate Generative AI

April 16, 2024

EWC Handout: ten tasks and future scenarios to be addressed by political decisionmakers and stakeholders to regulate generative AI. The European Writers’ Council (EWC) is the world’s largest representation of writers in the book sector and of all genres (fiction, non-fiction, academic, children’s book, poetry,…

UN AI Advisory’s Report: EWC calls to put IP rights at the centre

March 31, 2024

IP and copyright should be not only an add-on, but in the heart of every (G)AI governance norms. The EWC calls upon the AI Advisory’s Body to form a Guiding Principle No 6: AI Regulation must put the IP rights of authors at the centre.…

EWC joined the WIPO CONVERSATION ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (IP) AND FRONTIER TECHNOLOGIES

March 15, 2024

EWC joined the WIPO CONVERSATION ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (IP) AND FRONTIER TECHNOLOGIES At the Ninth Session, Geneva, March 13 and 14, 2024, the EWC reminded the over 5000 participants at this international conference on AI and Copyright on the value of human works, without no generative…

EWC at the AI Summit of the Federal Ministry of Justice Germany

March 5, 2024

AI Summit: Is copyright law up to the challenge? The increasing use of generative AI technology raises a variety of issues related to copyright. On March 5, 2024, the Federal Ministry of Justice hosted an international conference to discuss the most pressing of these issues…

Policy implications of the development of virtual worlds

January 22, 2024

EWC welcomes the adopted report Policy implications of the development of virtual worlds – civil, company, commercial and intellectual property law issues (2023/2062(INI)) In the shadow of the AI Act, equally relevant reports and political decisions are being negotiated in the final months of the…

For an innovation and creator friendly AI Act

November 23, 2023

Europe’s creative community urges EU policymakers to put transparency back at the heart of the EU AI Act. As the AI Act is entering into the final round of negotiations, we urge all policy makers to prioritise maximum transparency on training data and artificially generated…

WIPO SCCR 44: EWC Intervention on Exceptions & Limitations for Libraries and Archives

November 18, 2023

EWC Statement at WIPO’s SCCR, 44th Session, November 2023 As the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) held the 44th session of its Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) in November 2023 EWC’s Secretary General Nicole Pfister Fetz submitted on behalf of the European…

WIPO SCCR 44: EWC Statement on a WIPO Info Session on generative AI

November 18, 2023

Urgent – Al Act: Letter of concern on the stopped negotiations

November 14, 2023

Al Act Proposal Trilogue: Letter of concern on the stopped negotiations over Foundation Models It was with great dismay that we learned of the termination of the negotiations during the Technical Meeting on the 10th of November, after the request of certain Member States to…

EIBF, FEP, EWC – Common Statement: For the sake of the book chain and democracy

October 18, 2023

The EU must act now to ensure that Generative AI is more transparent – for the sake of the book chain and democracy On the occasion of the Frankfurt Book Fair, the biggest book fair in the world, the European Writers’ Council (EWC), the Federation…

DICTIONARY ON ADVANCED INFORMATICS (AI)

September 28, 2023

Already, numerous criminal and damaging “AI business models” have developed in the book sector – with fake authors, fake books and also fake readers. It has been proved that the fundaments for large language models such as GPT, Meta, StableLM, BERT have been generated from…

Analysis: The success of Generative AI in the book sector is based on theft

September 28, 2023

Generative, analytical and assistive informatics, sub-areas of so-called artificial “intelligence”, threatens numerous jobs and fields of labour in the book sector and will replace some professions by machines in the medium run; be it in the areas of writing, editing, proof reading, production, cover design,…

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#FreeAllWords: International Text and Translation Fund of the European Writers‘ Council (EWC) gives a voice to authors from Belarus and Ukraine

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