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 the AI Act, contravenes EU law and ignores the intention of the EU legislator – we cannot support it.
Brussels, 28 March 2025
Joint statement on the 3rd Draft Code of Practice
Key Objective – Key Objection
A key objective of the AI Act is to give authors, performers and other rightsholders tools to exercise and enforce their rights by requiring General-Purpose AI (GPAI) providers to put in place measures to comply with EU copyright law and provide a sufficiently detailed summary of the content ingested and used for training. This was recognised by the EU legislator as a key means to support the development of AI in Europe and protect the EU’s creative sectors that drive its cultural and economic landscape.
However, the third draft of the GPAI Code of Practice represents yet another step away from achieving this objective. It creates legal uncertainty, misinterprets EU copyright law and undercuts the obligations set out in the AI Act itself. Rather than providing a robust framework for compliance, it sets the bar so low as to provide no meaningful assistance for authors, performers and other rightsholders to exercise or enforce their rights. Even more fundamentally, it would also not ensure that GPAI providers comply with either EU copyright law or the AI Act.
Creatives are ignored
We have participated constructively in the drafting process and provided substantive comments to the previous drafts of the Code of Practice, underlining severe deficiencies affecting all creative sectors. However, the drafters of the Code have largely ignored or dismissed those comments. Regrettably, the third draft does not meet the adequacy requirement provided by the EU AI Act, and, therefore, should not be approved without substantial improvements. No Code would be better than the fundamentally flawed third draft.
The third draft further reduces the obligation to ensure compliance with EU copyright rules and the AI Act itself. In several places it states that GPAI providers merely need to make “reasonable efforts” to ensure compliance with EU copyright law. However, “reasonable efforts” or mere encouragement for GPAI providers to take measures is not sufficient to ensure compliance with EU copyright law or the AI Act.
Weakening Creative‘s rights
The draft waters down GPAI providers’ responsibility to undertake proper due diligence to ensure that the third-party datasets they use to train their models do not infringe copyright. Not only would this eliminate any meaningful due diligence obligations to comply with EU copyright law and the AI Act, but it would also risk guiding GPAI providers towards copyright infringements.
The third draft continues to render meaningless the right of authors, performers and other right holders to choose how they reserve their rights. It also fails to provide meaningful guidance on what GPAI providers must do to comply with such reservations. The draft further suggests that GPAI providers could comply with the “lawful access” requirement solely by adhering to technical access control measures, combined with “reasonable efforts” to exclude only a narrow and incomplete set of piracy sites from training. Given that lawful access is a mandatory requirement for eligibility to the TDM exceptions, if they apply, this measure fails to meet the standard set by substantive EU copyright law. Moreover, it not only misinterprets EU copyright law, but also does not reflect the reality of how pirated content is accessed and distributed online.
The third draft removes entirely the requirements to demonstrate transparency regarding GPAI providers’ compliance with the right reservation mechanisms; GPAI providers are not required to disclose whether or how they comply with the rights reservations expressed by authors, performers and other rightsholders. Despite strong opposition and comprehensive explanations on its inadequacy, robots.txt is still considered as the only method GPAI providers must recognise and respond to, while other reservation methods are ignored or treated as optional, in direct contradiction with EU law.
Furthermore, the measure for GPAI providers to introduce a copyright complaints process only requires the introduction of a mechanism to lodge complaints in relation to the Code of Practice alone and without any reference to the measures GPAI providers should take to resolve them, rendering it an empty gesture rather than a meaningful enforcement tool.
Need for Authorisation
The Code of Practice should provide proper measures to facilitate and persuade GPAI models to respect the two basic principles of copyright law: they should seek prior authorisation and abstain from unauthorised uses of copyrighted material. The Code of Practice should also make clear, as explained also by EVP Virkkunen in her recent response to a parliamentary question, that the obligations in the AI Act apply where a GPAI provider places their model into the EU market, regardless of where they are established or where the training of that model took place.
The Code of Practice must also be coupled with an effective template for the “sufficiently detailed summary of the content used for training”, enabling authors, performers and other rightsholders to effectively exercise or enforce their rights. Meaningful, actionable transparency on the content used for training and other purposes, and its disclosure, is not only feasible but can be achieved with little technical or financial effort. Misusing trade secret law to hide infringements would render the obligation meaningless and obstruct the fundamental right of rightsholders to exercise and enforce their rights.
The intention of the EU AI Act
The intention of the EU’s AI Act was to enable the development of responsible AI and ensure that the cultural and creative sectors can continue to grow across European territories. Entirely counter to this, the third draft of the GPAI Code of Practice sets an implementation standard which undermines the objectives of the AI Act, contravenes EU law and ignores the intention of the EU legislator.
The third draft is therefore completely unacceptable. We cannot support the GPAI Code of Practice in its current version. No Code would be better than the fundamentally flawed third draft.
Joint statement on the 3rd Draft Code of Practices as pdf
List of signatories
AAPA (Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance) represents companies involved in the provision of protected audiovisual services, including rights owners and broadcasters, security technology for such services, and the manufacturing of products which facilitate the delivery of such services. AAPA’s mission is to lead the fight against audiovisual piracy across Europe, and beyond through effective advocacy, supporting law enforcement and building partnerships to better tackle piracy.
AEPO-ARTIS is a non-profit making organisation that represents 40 European performers’ collective management organisations from 30 different countries. The number of performers (musicians, actors and dancers), from the audio and audiovisual sector, represented by AEPO-ARTIS member organisations is estimated at more than 650,000.
CEATL (European Council of Literary Translators’ Associations) was created in 1993 as a platform where literary translators’ associations from different European countries could exchange views and information, and join forces to improve status and working conditions of translators. It now unites 34 member associations from 26 countries across Europe, representing some 10,000 individual literary translators.
CEPI (European Audiovisual Production association) represent the interests of independent cinema and television producers in Europe.
CEPIC represents hundreds of Picture Libraries and Agencies, who themselves represent hundreds of thousands of photographers whose core business is the direct licensing of visual content offline and online. Acting as rightsholders, Picture Libraries and Agencies license digital assets for all kinds of commercial uses, to newspapers, magazines, advertising, broadcasters, etc. CEPIC members are continuously adapting to innovative technology and have developed sophisticated digital platforms to both market digital content online and provide digital access to images. CEPIC’s purpose is to act as a united voice for the visual media industry in Europe and beyond.
CISAC, the international confederation of authors‘ societies, which comprises 227 authors’ societies in 116 countries and represents five million creators from all regions of the world and all artistic repertoires: music, audiovisual, performing arts, literature and visual arts.
EANA (European Alliance of News Agencies, founded in 1956) is a non-profit membership association representing 32 leading news agencies across Europe. EANA serves as a platform for cooperation, knowledge exchange, and advocacy, with a focus on securing a fair and safe environment for the development of news agencies in particular and of the entire news media as a whole. With a collective direct and indirect global reach of their newswires of over 750 million people, EANA members share the common goal of delivering unbiased, high-quality news and supporting a healthy media environment throughout Europe.
ECSA (European Composer and Songwriter Alliance) represents over 30,000 professional composers and songwriters in 28 European countries. With 58 member organisations across Europe, the Alliance speaks for the interests of music creators of art & classical music (contemporary), film & audiovisual music, as well as popular music.
EFJ (The European Federation of Journalists) is the largest organisation of journalists in Europe, representing over 296,000 journalists in 74 journalists’ organisations across 44 countries. The EFJ fights for social and professional rights of journalists working in all sectors of the media across Europe through strong trade unions and associations.Member of the European Trade Union Confederation. (ETUC), the EFJ is recognised by the European Union and the Council of Europe as the representative voice of journalists in Europe.
EGAIR (European Guild for Artificial Intelligence Regulation) is a network of creatives and associations from all over Europe, lobbying for the protection of artists’ works and data from AI companies. Originally founded by MeFu, the Italian association of comic book creators, EGAIR now represents over 20.000 creatives, artists and associations.
EIF (European Illustrators Forum) is a network of 23 national Associations of illustrators based in 14 European countries. EIF represents over 12,000 illustrators based in Europe. The EIF defends the rights of illustrators and promotes illustration within Europe and around the world. It represents its members’ common interests by liaising with other networks and authorities of the European Union. The EIF furthers exchange of knowledge and critical debate between professional illustrators and their clients through conferences, exhibitions, research and education.
EMMA (European Music Managers Alliance) brings together organisations across Europe to support the development, professionalisation and representation of managers and their artists.
EMMA (European Magazine Media Association) is the unique and complete representation of Europe’s magazine media, enjoyed by millions of consumers on both paper and digital formats, covering automotive, business, financial, news, children, comics, teenage, general interest, home, men’s and women’s titles, TV guides, B2B and scientific journals.
ENPA, the European Newspaper Publishers’ Association, is the largest representative body of newspaper publishers across Europe, promoting press freedom and authoritative news content on print and digital formats. ENPA advocates for 14 national associations across 14 European countries and is a principal interlocutor to the EU institutions and a key driver of media policy debates.
EPC (The European Producers Club) is an association representing nearly 200 independent European producers from 35 countries, highly specialized in international co-productions.
EPC (European Publishers Council) is a high-level group of 27 Chairmen and CEOs of Europe’s leading media groups representing companies which are active in news media, television, radio, digital market places, journals, eLearning, databases and books. We have been communicating with Europe’s legislators since 1991 on issues that affect the health and viability of journalistically-driven media and publishing companies in the European Union, which uphold the freedom of expression, media diversity, and democratic debate.
Eurocinema, Association of Film and Television Producers, aims to defend and promote the fundamental role of the film industry and filmmakers in a politically and economically integrated Europe.
EVA, European Visual Artists represents the interests of authors’ collective management organisations for the visual arts. 31 societies are gathered under this roof. They manage collectively authors’ rights of close to 170 000 creators of works of fine art, illustration, photography, design, architecture and other visual works.
EWC (European Writers’ Council) is the world’s largest federation representing solely authors from the book sector and constituted by 49 national professional writers’ and literary translators’ associations from 31 countries. EWC members comprise over 220.000 professional authors, writing and publishing in 33 languages.
FEE/FEP, the Federation of European Publishers represents 29 national books and learned journals publishers’ associations of the European Union and the European Economic Area.
FERA (Federation of European Screen Directors) represents film and TV directors at European level, with 48 directors’ associations as members from 35 countries. Founded in 1980, FERA speaks for more than 20,000 European screen directors, representing their cultural, creative and economic interests.
FIA (International Federation of Actors) is a global union federation representing performers‘ trade unions, guilds and professional associations in about 70 countries. In a connected world of content and entertainment, it stands for fair social, economic and moral rights for audio-visual performers working in all recorded media and live theatre.
FIAPF (Fédération internationale des associations des producteurs de films) / Film producers worldwide gathers 36 producers’ associations from 29 countries on all continents.
FIM (International Federation of Musicians) is the only body representing professional musicians and their trade unions globally, with members in about 65 countries covering all regions of the world. Founded in 1948, FIM is recognised as an NGO by diverse international authorities such as the ILO, WIPO, UNESCO, the European Commission, the European Parliament or the Council of Europe.
FSE (Federation of Screenwriters in Europe) is a network of national and regional associations, guilds and unions of writers for the screen in Europe, created in June 2001. It comprises 25 organisations from 19 countries, representing more than 7,000 screenwriters in Europe.
GESAC, the European Grouping of Authors’ Societies, which represents 32 authors’ societies in Europe and more than one million creators from all artistic repertoires.
IAO (International Artist Organisation) is the umbrella association for national organisations advocating for the rights and interests of the Featured Artists in the music industry. Our main interests are transparency, the protection of intellectual property rights and a fair reflection of the value an artist’s work generates.
ICMP is the global trade association for the music publishing industry. ICMP represents approximately 90% of the world’s commercially released music. Its membership comprises 76 different national associations, across 6 continents, as well as the Major and independent music publishing companies.
IFJ (International Federation of Journalists) is the world’s largest organisation of journalists, representing 600,000 media professionals from 187 trade unions and associations in more than 140 countries.
IFPI is the voice of the recording industry worldwide, representing over 8,000 record company members across the globe.
IFRRO, the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations, is an independent non-profit membership association. It facilitates, on an international basis, the collective management of reproduction and other rights in text and image works through the co-operation of our member Reproduction Rights Organisations (RROs). IFRRO has over 158 members, drawn from some 90 countries around the world. Our members represent many millions of authors, visual artists, and publishers of books, journals, newspapers, magazines and printed music.
IMPALA is the European association of independent music companies, representing over 6,000 music SMEs. Its mission is to grow the independent music sector sustainably, return more value to artists, promote diversity and entrepreneurship, improve political access, inspire change and increase access to finance.
IMPF is the global trade and advocacy body for independent music publishers, helping to create a more favourable business and entrepreneurial environment by promoting artistic, cultural, and commercial diversity for independent music publishers and the songwriters and composers they represent.
IPA, the International Publishers Association, based in Geneva, Switzerland, is the world’s largest federation of national, regional and specialist publishers’ associations. Our membership comprises of 101 member associations in 81 countries. Through its members, IPA represents thousands of individual publishers around the world who service more than 5.6 billion people. IPA is also an accredited non-governmental organisation (NGO) enjoying consultative relations with the United Nations.
IVF, the International Video Federation, represents individual companies and associations representing companies, active in the production and distribution of films and audiovisual content, with a particular focus on publishing such content via all forms of legal online distribution channels (transactional models for permanent or time-limited access (TVOD), subscription (SVOD), advertisement-funded (AVOD and FAST)) as well as on physical carriers such as DVD and Blu-ray.
News Media Europe (NME) is the voice of the progressive news media industry in Europe, representing over 2,700 news brands in print, online, radio and TV, through national associations from sixteen countries. Together, we defend key principles which are vital to us: protecting the freedom of the press, championing the digital future of our industry, and ensuring that the value of content is properly protected.
SAA, the Society of Audiovisual Authors is the umbrella association of European collective management organisations representing audiovisual authors. Its 33 members in 25 countries manage rights for over 167,000 film, television and multimedia European screenwriters and directors.
STM, the International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers, is the leading global trade association for academic and professional publishers. It has roughly 150 members from across the globe who each year collectively publish roughly 60% of all English language journal articles and tens of thousands of monographs and reference works. STM members include learned societies, university presses, private companies, new starts and established players — from organizations of all sizes and all corners of the globe.
UNI MEI – UNI – Media, Entertainment and Arts unites over 140 unions and guilds to raise standards and enforce rights for more than 500.000 creatives, technicians and auxiliary workers. Together, our members work for a fair, inclusive, equal, and sustainable global entertainment industry and a just transformation.
UVA (United Voice Artists) is a global coalition of voice acting guilds, associations, and unions that have united to pursue their shared goals of protecting and preserving the act of creating, in particular, through the human voice. This collaborative effort brings together prominent associations and unions from the European Union, including France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium, and Poland, as well as organizations in Switzerland, Turkey, the United States of America, Africa and in South America.