The Rights Alliance, together with a wide range of Danish rights holders in film, music, books, and articles, has sent a letter to the Minister for Digitalisation, the Minister for Culture, and the Minister for Business. In the letter, they make it clear: They cannot support the EU’s current code of practice due to the lack of transparency requirements for tech companies developing artificial intelligence.
The code of practice is part of the implementation of the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act—specifically Article 53(d)—which aims to ensure that rights holders can control how their works are used when training AI systems. However, according to the rights holders, the current and third draft of the code fails to meet the regulation’s objectives or provide adequate protection for creative rights. On the contrary, it risks placing rights holders in a worse position than under existing legislation.
Without transparency, creative rights lose their meaning
Effective transparency is essential if rights holders are to retain control over the use of their works. It must be possible to identify which works are used to train AI models, where they originate from, and under what conditions. Without this level of transparency, copyright becomes nothing more than empty words.
In the letter, the Rights Alliance also refers to a report documenting how major tech companies — including OpenAI, Meta, and Microsoft —have used large amounts of copyrighted material sourced from illegal piracy sites.
Read the report here
Maria Fredenslund, Director ind the Rights Alliance, says:
The fact that tech companies are using copyrighted material from illegal sources highlights the ruthless approach that dominates the tech industry’s race to develop artificial intelligence as cheaply and quickly as possible. The current trajectory is profoundly undermining the creative sector.
Danish politicians must take responsibility
That is why the Rights Alliance is urging Danish politicians — both nationally and at the EU level — to actively advocate for a stronger and more meaningful code of practice that genuinely protects copyright and ensures fair conditions for the creative sector amid rapid technological advancement.
The lack of transparency, accountability, and respect for fundamental rights not only fails artists, authors, publishers, and other creators—it also undermines the European values that uphold the right to be compensated for creative work.
The letter includes the Rights Alliance’s report, along with a joint statement from a number of international rights organizations.
Read the letter here