CISAC leads AI in Focus: Cultural Diversity, Law and Creation discussion at UNESCO Mondiacult side event

CISAC Director General Gadi Oron took part in MONDIACULT 2025 in Barcelona, where CISAC and SGAE co-hosted the side event AI in Focus: Cultural Diversity, Law and Creation. Moderated by CISAC's Director of Creator Relations, Anna Neale, the session brought together experts from CISAC, SGAE, CERLALC-UNESCO, ifa/Northeastern University/UNAM, and the AI and Diversity Observatory to address one of the most urgent issues in culture today: the impact of generative AI on creativity, rights, and cultural diversity. With contributions from across the music and publishing sectors, the discussion examined both the challenges and opportunities of ensuring that technological change respects and sustains human creativity.

The focus of the event

AI is the most disruptive technological development of recent decades. While it offers new tools for creativity, it also relies fundamentally on human works - music, text, images, audiovisual works - without consent or fair payment to creators.
Gadi Oron underlined the urgent need for regulation that secures:

• Transparency - disclosure of what works are being used and how.
• Consent - the right of creators to license their works.
• Fair remuneration - ensuring creators are paid when their works fuel AI technologies.

"These three pillars are not only a matter of fairness," he said. "They are a matter of law and principle. Copyright exists to reward and sustain human creativity. It cannot be set aside in the name of technological progress."

_________________

Full speech by Gadi Oron at MONDIACULT Barcelona

Introduction

Good afternoon. It is a pleasure to take part in this event.

CISAC is the umbrella organisation for authors' societies worldwide, representing over 5 million creators through 228 members in 111 countries. Together, our members collect more than €13 billion annually in royalties, one-third of which comes from the digital market.
The creative industries have undergone a digital revolution. But today, this progress is under serious threat from Artificial Intelligence.

The threat

AI is not just another tool. It is the most disruptive development of recent decades. And while creators themselves are increasingly using AI in their work, these technologies depend entirely on human-created content - without which they would have nothing to offer. The problem is simple: AI companies do not want to pay for that use.

• No licences have been granted by authors' societies to AI companies.
• Creators are not being paid for the exploitation of their works.
• AI-generated content is flooding platforms, competing with and substituting human works.
• Consumers cannot always tell what is human-created and what is AI.

Recent figures underline the urgency: Deezer has reported up to a third of uploaded tracks are AI-generated, while Spotify recently removed 75 million AI tracks from its servers.

Recent developments

Governments worldwide are beginning to act, with the EU's AI Act a significant first step. However, its implementation has been deeply disappointing. The "code of practice" issued by the European Commission falls short of delivering transparency or safeguarding intellectual property rights.

As things stand, the act will do little to stop ongoing violations of copyright by AI platforms.

The figures at stake

An independent study commissioned by CISAC projected severe losses if AI remains unregulated:

• In music, 24% of revenues at risk by 2028 - equal to €4 billion.
• In audiovisual, 21% of creators' income at risk.

This would mean devastating impacts on jobs, revenues, and cultural diversity.

The way forward

To address this risk, three principles are essential:

• Consent - creators must be able to license use of their works.
• Remuneration - creators must be fairly paid.
• Transparency - AI companies must disclose what works they use and how.

Without this information, licensing is impossible and remuneration cannot be collected.

This is not new. Throughout history, copyright has adapted to protect human creativity in the face of technological change.

The same must happen now with Artificial Intelligence.

Conclusion

Copyright exists to reward and sustain human creativity. It cannot be set aside in the name of technological progress. With leadership, global cooperation, and effective regulation, we can ensure that AI supports creators rather than undermining them.

Organised in partnership with

• CERLALC-UNESCO (Centro Regional para el Fomento del Libro en América Latina y el Caribe)
• ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)
• Northeastern University
• UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México)
• AI and Diversity Observatory (Universitat Politècnica de València / UPV)
• CISAC (International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers)
• SGAE (Sociedad General de Autores y Editores)
  

Download the full speech here