AI and extended collective licence

OpenAI says it’s “impossible” to create useful AI models without copyrighted material. Brad Lightcap, COO of OpenAI, claims that OpenAI is dedicated to supporting journalism. Denmark will now introduce extended collective licensing for AI use of protected content. And a mediation mechanism.

The Danish Ministry of Culture has just introduced a bill, L 145 Forslag til lov om ændring af lov om ophavsret, stating that when training models are based on generative AI, which is done by scraping, it constitutes exploitation of works. The ministry makes it clear that the core of the Nordic extended collective licence model is to ensure agreements on mass exploitation. In Denmark the American fair use-doctrine does not apply.

The bill also expands the mediation option as the ministry notes that, for example, in the field of AI, there are often large international players, and experience has shown that there may be a need to formalise discussion in negotiations with large tech companies, which mediation can contribute to.  It is the Minister of Culture who appoints the mediator.

DPCMO looks forward to putting the law into practice to ensure greater fairness between big tech and content creators for the benefit of citizens and society.