Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj, Stevie Wonder, Dozens More Call on AI Developers to Respect Artists’ Rights

Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj, Stevie Wonder, Pearl Jam, Kacey Musgraves, Camila Cabello and more than 200 other artists have joined with the Artist Rights Alliance nonprogt – an artist-led education and advocacy organization – to issue an open letter supported by more than 200 artists calling on “AI developers, technology companies, platforms, and digital music services to cease the use of artigcial intelligence (AI) to infringe upon and devalue the rights of human artists.” A full list of signatories appears below.

While Ai-related threats such as deepfakes and voice cloning continue to attract signigcant (and legal) scrutiny, the letter also highlights two related trends: the use of musical works by AI developers without permission to train and produce AI “copycats,” and the use of AI “sound” to dilute royalty obligations.

“Working musicians are already struggling to make ends meet in the streaming world, and now they have the added burden of trying to compete with a deluge of Ai-generated noise,” explains Jen Jacobsen, Executive Director of the ARA. “The unethical use of generative AI to replace human artists will devalue the entire music ecosystem—for artists and fans alike.”

The letter, the full text of which appears below, states that “We must protect against the predatory use of

AI to steal professional artists’ voices and likenesses, violate creators’ rights, and destroy the music ecosystem. We call on all digital music platforms and music-based services to pledge that they will not develop or deploy AI music-generation technology, content, or tools that undermine or replace the human artistry of songwriters and artists or deny us fair compensation for our work.”

Earlier this month, the state of Tennessee has enacted the so-called ELVIS Act, enhancing its “right of publicity” protections. Similar legislation is being discussed in the US Congress and in several US states.

The text of the letter follows in full:

We, the undersigned members of the artist and songwriting communities, call on AI developers, technology companies, platforms and digital music services to cease the use of artigcial intelligence (AI) to infringe upon and devalue the rights of human artists.

Make no mistake: we believe that, when used responsibly, AI has enormous potential to advance human creativity and in a manner that enables the development and growth of new and exciting experiences for music fans everywhere.

Unfortunately, some platforms and developers are employing AI to sabotage creativity and undermine artists, songwriters, musicians and rightsholders.