NewsBrands Ireland and the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) will host a major conference, “Copyright and Human Creativity in the Age of AI”, at the Irish Film Institute in Temple Bar on October 14, bringing together policymakers, legal experts, rights holders, creators and representatives of the media and creative industries.
European Commission executive vice president for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunen will deliver a keynote address. The event is being held with the support of the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment as part of Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Other keynote speakers include Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke, Minister of State for Trade Promotion, AI and Digital Transformation Niamh Smyth and Professor Eleonora Rosati, a specialist in copyright and intellectual property law. The conference will be hosted by Business Post Editor Daniel McConnell.
The conference comes amid growing debate across the media, music and wider creative industries about the use of copyright-protected material by generative AI companies, including the use of journalism, music and other creative works to train AI models.
Copyright and AI: Key themes
Among the issues to be discussed are how trust can be established around the use of AI, how a functioning market for licensing copyrighted material can be developed and how copyright protections can be effectively enforced. Panels will also examine the impact of AI across affected sectors and consider how policymakers can support technological innovation while ensuring creators and rights holders are recognised and compensated for the use of their work.
Ann Marie Lenihan, CEO of NewsBrands Ireland, said AI offered significant opportunities but argued that innovation could not come at the expense of publishers and other content creators. “AI has enormous potential to drive innovation, but that innovation cannot come at the expense of the rights of those who create and invest in original content,” she said.
“Publishers must retain control over how their journalism is accessed, licensed, reproduced and used to train AI systems. Strong intellectual property rights are not a barrier to innovation; they are the foundation on which sustainable innovation depends.”
Lenihan said the conference would provide a forum for examining how copyright rules can accommodate the development of AI while protecting those responsible for creating original content. “This conference will bring together some of the leading voices in Europe to examine how we can build a copyright framework that supports innovation while ensuring that creators and rights holders are properly recognised, protected and rewarded,” she said.
David Kitching, head of public affairs & communications at IRMA, said transparency and accountability around AI would be central to protecting the economic value of creative work. “Without the necessary guardrails, music and other creative output can be taken without authorisation or payment, diverting money away from rights holders,” he said.
“Ireland can show real leadership, as both a tech hub and a society that values culture, in promoting copyright laws that maintain a fair and equitable system that sustains our creative sectors.”
Further speakers and panellists are expected to be announced ahead of the conference.
