Did you know that swimming in sewers is illegal in Germany?

Yes, the law exists, even if it seems needless. Almost all areas of
life are regulated for us as Europeans, especially for Germans, right down to
the smallest detail. And some things are even smart and useful. The minimum
wage, for example. It is intended to ensure that people in this country are not
exploited during and through their work. And that works successfully in almost
all EU countries. And the policy makers are proud to have regulated it so well.
But why do our governments allow artists to be robbed officially and
unhindered millions of times a day by so-called artificial intelligence for images and texts?

According to estimates, ChatGPT alone processes over ten million requests per day. In the database: Texts from all over the world, perhaps from you or me too. Nobody knows for sure. And that’s why there is no remuneration model, no minimum wage for our work, which is fed into a computer and which, in set pieces, is offered to anyone free of charge. If we can regulate swimming in sewers, there should be a useful and smart arrangement by policy for the payment of our work as artists.

By Klaus-Maria Dechant, Novelist, Podcaster, Journalist, Vice Chair for Communication and Public Relation, SYNDIKAT e.V. – Association for German Language Crime Writers (Germany-Austria-Switzerland).