News from ECSA: September 2025

Last month, ECSA President Helienne Lindvall was interviewed by Creatives Unite. During the interview, Helienne talked about ECSA’s strong concerns on the AI Act implementation measures adopted by the European Commission. “Key tools for implementing the AI Act such as the GPAI Code of Practice, the GPAI guidelines and the template for the summary of content used for training by AI providers are toothless and disappointing”, Helienne argued in the interview. She also shared her views on the place of culture in the European Commission’s recently proposed Multiannual Financial Framework, and on the importance of establishing an EU strategy for the music sector within AgoraEU. Find the full interview below.

On 16 October, ECSA returns to World Soundtrack Awards (WSA) Ghent to co-organise the next Creators’ Talks panel, titled “Negotiating in the Dark: the Composers’ Contract”. During this panel, composer and ECSA Board Member Johan van der Voet, composer Aisling Brouwer, Valerie Dobbelaere (Strike A Score), Harriet Moss (Faber Music) and moderator Sarah Glennane (Screen Composers Guild of Ireland) discuss what film composers can do to better protect their rights. Secrecy surrounding contractual practices frequently places film composers in vulnerable positions, while they are often pressured to make a deal that may leave them without significant future royalties and with little control over how their music is exploited. How should these harmful practices be tackled? Our panellists come to grips with what is at stake for film composers and the broader ecosystem involving publishers and producers. Find more info on how to attend below.

On 3 September, ECSA's EU Affairs and Programme Manager Claire Iceaga and EU Affairs Officer Giacomo Bonetti participated in a roundtable hosted by the European Parliament’s CULT Committee Chair Nela Riehl (Germany, Greens/EFA) to discuss pressing challenges for creators in Europe. On this occasion, they recalled the four key priorities of ECSA's Manifesto, and encouraged the CULT Committee to take into account music authors' concerns, in particular in their letter on MEP Axel Voss' report on copyright and AI. They also underlined the need to preserve - and ideally increase - the funding dedicated to the "Culture Strand - Creative Europe" in the Multiannual Financial Framework, while supporting a sector-specific approach for music. We thank the Greens/EFA MEPs from the CULT Committee for this vital and fruitful exchange.

In July, MEP Axel Voss presented his draft report on “Copyright and generative artificial intelligence – opportunities and challenges”. ECSA sees the draft report as a strong starting point with several vital points for music creators, including its calls for the fair remuneration of creators, the full and detailed transparency of works used in the form of an itemised list, and the establishment of an irrebuttable presumption of use. However, our Alliance considers that several crucial points must be added in order to improve the protection of European creators. These include tackling the role of generative AI in promoting fraudulent music streaming practices by introducing transparency obligations for streaming platforms, and clear obligations for AI services regarding the labelling of AI outputs and deep fakes. Find our full recommendations to MEPs in the JURI Committee on LinkedIn.

On 18 September, ECSA’s EU Affairs Officer Giacomo Bonetti attended the Conference on Copyright and AI organised by the Danish Presidency of the EU in Copenhagen. During the conference, the Danish government’s Expert Group on Copyright and AI unveiled a set of policy recommendations which call for effective transparency, explicit consent of rightsholders (“opt-in”), and collective licensing for AI uses. We warmly welcome these recommendations, especially as the AI Act’s implementation package failed to provide rightsholders with effective tools to enforce their rights. We also welcome Denmark’s approach to regulating digital replicas as an important step to protect authors’ and performers’ voice, image and likeness.

Across our continent, cultural institutions are experiencing more and more political interference that undermines artistic freedom and creative autonomy. Public funding is often diverted to those who accept or practice self-censorship, leaving others excluded. To safeguard artistic freedom, the Bratislava Declaration was introduced during the International Conference Open Culture! organised by Open Culture! Platform on 29-30 May in Bratislava, Slovakia. The Declaration serves as a united appeal for the implementation of bold and enforceable protections of artistic freedom across all Member States and draws on the experience of the European Media Freedom Act adopted in 2024. Earlier this month, ECSA joined the declaration as a signatory. Read the full declaration below.

On 8 September, ECSA welcomed music lawyer Ryan Schmidt to its Music Streaming Working Group meeting. During a Q&A moderated by Tobias Stenkjaer (Chair of ECSA’s Music Streaming Working Group), Ryan shared his insights related to key challenges on the intersection of AI, music streaming, and creators’ rights. This was followed by an engaging exchange with ECSA members. Topics discussed included the flood of AI generated content on streaming platforms, AI detection methods, and the lack of transparency in streaming platforms’ algorithms and playlists. We warmly thank Ryan Schmidt for an insightful discussion.

On 4 September, the European Commission announced the launch of a consultation to develop guidelines and a Code of Practice on the AI Act’s transparency obligations, open until 9 October. The consultation will gather input from  AI companies, private and public sector organisations, academia, and civil society on how to implement the AI Act’s rules on the detection and labelling of AI-generated or manipulated content (Article 50) which will come into force in August 2026. In parallel, the Commission also launched a call to participate in the creation of the Code of Practice. ECSA will participate in the consultation and advocate for the urgent need to implement robust obligations to detect and label AI-generated content on music streaming platforms and across the internet.

This month, Spanish and Danish collecting societies SGAE and Koda published new studies on the economic and social impact of AI on their national music sectors. Among its main conclusions, SGAE’s study finds that AI could reduce music copyright revenue by 28% and cause losses up to €180 million by 2028. Furthermore, the study comes with three recommendations: continuous monitoring of AI’s expansion in the creative sector, standards to distinguish between fully AI-generated and AI-assisted music, and a legislative framework that guarantees the survival of human creation. Similarly, Koda’s study finds that AI-generated music will lead to losses of €271 million in 2030 alone (also indicating a revenue loss of 28%), with Koda calling for the establishment of a clear and responsible framework for AI in the music industry. Read the full study of SGAE (available in ES) and Koda (available in DA and EN).

On 5 August, US music publisher Kobalt announced it had entered into a licensing agreement with AI company ElevenLabs to allow the use of its catalogue for training ElevenLabs’ AI model, Eleven Music. Notably, the deal works on an opt-in basis, meaning that only rightsholders who have given their authorisation will participate in the licensing scheme. The deal also includes a provision for a 50-50 split between publishing and neighbouring rights of the royalties generated by the output of the AI platform. A separate deal struck by ElevenLabs with licensing company Merlin, who manages the rights for independent record labels, distributors and artists, will entail that only works that are 100% managed through Kobalt and Merlin will be able to be licensed. Read more below via Music Business Worldwide.

Last week, ECSA published the second episode of its Tune in Dialogues Podcast. In this episode, we discuss the issue of harassment and unwanted behaviour in the music sector - something that, unfortunately, a majority of women in music still experience today. What can we do to accommodate those who experienced harassment or unwanted behaviour in the music industry in the best way? Can we learn from initiatives taken by ECSA member organisations? ECSA delegates Delphine Ciampi-Ellis (UNAC), Jojo von Hertzen (Finnish Music Creators), and Aafke Romeijn (BAM! Popauteurs) share their experiences and insights on initiatives taken on a national level in their respective countries. The episode is available on all platforms via the link below.

Earlier this month, ECSA organised its Film Music Career Mentoring Courses for European Film Composers. After the two winners of the call were announced in August, George Christopoulos, film composer agent at Oticons, and Miriam Cutler, world-renowned documentary composer, held several sessions to help guiding the two selected composers,  Nikolaï Clavier (The Netherlands/Norway) and Darcy Cole (United Kingdom), towards a successful career path. The next round of mentoring sessions will be organised in 2027.

How can diversity and freedom of cultural expression be protected in post-digital societies, and how can transparency and accessibility be strengthened? On 8 October in Vienna, Austria, the Austrian Commission for UNESCO is hosting a roundtable on AI and Creativity, which will explore these questions. During the roundtable, Ali Nikrang, Carina Zehetmair, Clemens Apprich, Eva Fischer, Magdalena Reiter and Sofia Braga will discuss policy recommendations for protecting the diversity of cultural expressions in the context of AI, focusing on accessibility, discoverability, and transparency. The event will be held in German. Find more info and the registration link below.

Musicians, bow makers, instrument makers, teachers, and music lovers from around the world issue an urgent appeal to the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) Parties. At the CITES CoP20 conference in late 2025, Brazil will present a proposal to effectively ban Pernambuco wood’s international trade. Pernambuco wood is used to make professional bows for string instruments. Approval of the proposal will have detrimental consequences: musicians will lose the freedom to travel internationally with their bows; repairs, sales, and purchases will be prohibited; bow making craftsmanship will vanish; and musical heritage will be lost, all with no real biodiversity benefit. Sign the petition to reject the proposal via the link below and find more information via Pearle.