The measure would require transparency and fair pay for the use of copyrighted works in generative artificial intelligence training.

Members of the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee approved a set of proposals, “Copyright and generative artificial intelligence – opportunities and challenges,” aimed at protecting copyrighted works used by generative AI. The proposals state that creators should have transparency, control, and remuneration for the use of their material in AI training data.

The proposals would require that European Union copyright law apply to all generative AI systems available on the EU market, regardless of where the training took place, and call for full transparency about the copyrighted content used in training, including lists of works and records of data crawling by AI providers and deployers.

The committee text also seeks fair remuneration for rights holders for the use of copyrighted material by generative AI and urges the European Commission to explore whether such payments should cover past uses. It rejects the concept of a single global licence with a flat-rate payment for AI training.

In its report, the committee says news media and individual creators should be able to refuse use of their content for AI training and calls on the Commission and member states to act to protect media pluralism and ensure remuneration for use of press content.

The committee text further states that works fully generated by AI should not qualify for copyright protection and calls for measures to address the dissemination of manipulated AI-generated content, as well as obligations on digital service providers to counter illegal use.

After the committee vote, Voss said, “Generative AI must not operate outside the rule of law. If copyrighted works are used to train AI systems, creators are entitled to transparency, legal certainty, and fair compensation.”

The report will be put to a vote in the full European Parliament plenary, expected in March.