Renowned musician Elton John has publicly defended the rights of music creators and expressed his discontent with the Labour government, which he previously supported, regarding its approach to AI copyright regulations.
John has accused Keir Starmer’s administration of engaging in ‘theft’ by permitting technology companies to use the UK’s music catalog for training artificial intelligence models without any form of remuneration.
The legal and ethical ramifications surrounding AI technology are currently at the forefront of public debate, particularly as these systems can generate artistic content after being ‘trained’ on pre-existing works.
Reuters reported:
“Britain, which Prime Minister Keir Starmer aims to transform into an AI superpower, has proposed relaxing copyright laws to allow AI developers to train their models on any material to which they have lawful access. The proposed changes would mandate that creators must actively opt out to prevent their work from being utilized.”
Other prominent figures in music, including Paul McCartney and Andrew Lloyd Webber, have also voiced their opposition to these proposals, warning that they could further jeopardize the livelihoods of emerging creators.
“The real danger lies with young artists who lack the resources to continually monitor or challenge major tech corporations,” John told the BBC. “It’s criminal, and I feel profoundly betrayed.”
“A machine lacks a soul, a heart, or genuine human feeling and passion. When people create, they do so to bring joy to others,” he added.
BBC reported:
“Sir Elton John referred to the government as ‘absolute losers’ and expressed feeling ‘incredibly betrayed’ over plans that would exempt tech firms from copyright obligations.”
During an exclusive interview on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, he declared that if ministers proceed with the plan to allow AI companies to utilize artists’ content without compensation, they would be ‘committing theft, thievery on a grand scale’.”
This week, the Starmer government dismissed proposals from the House of Lords, which aimed to mandate AI companies to disclose the sources of the material they utilize for their development.
“The House of Lords voted overwhelmingly in our favor, yet the government seemed to disregard it, as if to say, ‘Well, the elderly… like me can handle it’,” he remarked.
Sir Elton John described the Government as “absolute losers” and said he felt “incredibly betrayed” after calls by peers to amend the Data (Use and Access) Bill to include greater copyright protections against artificial intelligence (AI) were resisted pic.twitter.com/r8f1j6NYit
— PA Entertainment (@PAshowbiz) May 18, 2025
“Sir Elton warned that the government was on a path to ‘rob young people of their legacy and their income’, adding that he considered them ‘absolute losers and I’m quite angry about it’.
He asserted that Prime Minister Keir Starmer needed to ‘wise up’ and characterized Technology Secretary Peter Kyle as ‘a bit of a moron’.”
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