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As working groups assigned by the European Commission finalise the “General-Purposa AI (GPAI) Code of Practice” and the "Sufficiently Detailed Training Data Transparency Template”, led by the AI Office, we at Creativity Works!—the leading coalition of Europe’s cultural and creative sectors— are deeply concerned about the current trajectory of the AI Act’s implementation. As things stand, we believe the Commission is failing to respect both the spirit and the substance of the Act.

We are particularly troubled about the undermining of the copyright provisions adopted by the EU co-legislators. The latest draft of the code of practice introduces major copyright loopholes without addressing the unprecedented scale of copyright infringement by GPAI providers.

By employing 17 million people and accounting for 6.9% of Europe’s GDP, creative and cultural industries are central to Europe’s economic strength. Our sectors contribute €253 billion annually to the European economy, exceeding industries such as telecommunications and pharmaceuticals. More than 90% of our companies are SMEs or start-ups. Through human creation of literary, musical, film, sporting and audiovisual works, our sectors not only drive economic growth: they vitally contribute to free press and news media, and underpin Europe’s cultural diversity, social cohesion, European values and democratic dialogue.

Our sectors have been early adopters and innovators of a range of AI technologies. We continue to seize the potential of AI in new areas in a way that keeps humans - and human creativity - at the center of AI development, while maintaining a forward-looking perspective placing innovation, and copyright - the cornerstones of our sectors - at the center.

So what is needed? Our recommendation is anchored in the following two principles:

Meaningful and actionable transparency under the template for the “Sufficiently Detailed Summary” of training data

Respect for copyright laws and for meaningful transparency obligations is fundamental for the cultural and creative sectors, and a prerequisite for fostering an ethical AI ecosystem. Without comprehensive information on the training data used by GPAI services, the AI Act implementation will fall short of the law while preventing rightsholders from effectively enforcing their rights or fairly negotiating licences for their works, should they wish to.

However, the latest draft proposed principles for the Transparency Template Training summary presented by the AI Office, fails to provide sufficient information for rightholders to assess whether their content has been used for training. On the basis of the information we have about the template, it would facilitate circumvention by AI providers and would not meaningfully allow for the exercise and the enforcement of EU copyright laws.

Respect for copyright - A Code of Practice that aligns with EU law on copyright and related rights

Language in the third draft of the GPAI Code of Practice undermines and contradicts not only the AI Act but existing EU copyright laws as well.

Our work not only enriches the lives of Europeans and global audiences. It can enable high-quality training for profitable, innovative and ethical GPAI models. However, this needs to be done in ways which respect EU copyright laws, exclusive rights and the key EU principles of commercial freedom and voluntary licensing whereby prior authorisation is secured from relevant rightholders.

The vast and ongoing breaches of the EU’s well-established, effective and innovation-friendly copyright framework are neither legal nor acceptable or justified. We respectfully ask the EU’s co-legislators to urge the Commission to respect the provisions of the AI Act and the EU’s copyright framework by delivering a meaningful and detailed Training Data Template, after due consultation of the relevant stakeholders, and making extensive improvements to the GPAI Code of Practice so that the EU continues to adequately protect rightholders.

Kind regards,

The Creativity Works! Secretariat