Open letter to EU Commissioner Virkkunen makes concrete demands for the protection of Europe's works and values / Petition against exploitation by AI / Transparency, remuneration and law enforcement should become the focus of the EU Commission.
Europe´s cultural and creative industries demand: Protect European values and works
In an open letter to Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Creators for Europe United call for stronger protection of European values and the works of creative professionals.
The signatories call for a fair and legally compliant framework for the use of AI - not against progress, but in favour of it. Europe's creative soul must not be allowed to degenerate into a mere resource. The EU Commission must immediately create regulatory guard rails that prevent millions of creative works from being used for the training of artificial intelligence and other purposes without the consent and fair remuneration of authors, performers and rights holders.
Artificial intelligence needs content from creators in order to function at all. But at the moment, it is mainly the developers of the models who are benefiting, while the authors and rights holders have effectively been expropriated. ‘AI can be a driver of progress - but only if it is built on a legally and ethically sound foundation. If Europe loses its creatives, it will not only lose its cultural identity, but also one of its strongest economic sectors. Sacrificing this potential means jeopardising the future of Europe,’ reads the open letter from the Creators for Europe United initiative to Virkkunen.
These are the demands of the European creative industry
In their letter to the Executive Vice-President of the EU Commission, the creative industries set out concrete measures to stop the ongoing misuse of their works:
- Complete transparency about all works, performances and performances that have been and will be used for training generative AI models and other purposes.
- Fair Renumeration for the use of your content.
- Consistent enforcement of existing copyright laws - also against global tech companies.
- Involvement of the cultural, creative and media industries in all regulatory processes for AI governance.
The open letter from Creators for Europe United can be signed here
About Creators for Europe United
Creators for Europe United is committed to bringing the perspectives of the creative industries into the political decision-making process. The initiative brings together players from literature, music, film, design, press, architecture and other areas of the cultural and media industry.
Berlin/Frankfurt am Main, 25. April 2025
Contact for the media:
Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels e.V.
Thomas Koch, Head of Press and Public Relations
Phone +49 (0) 69 1306-293, e-mail: t.koch@boev.de
Anna Härle, PR Manager Political Communication
Phone +49 (0) 69 1306-298, e-mail: haerle@boev.de
Note: The open letter is also available on the website in German and French.
