From a meeting of the European Parliament JURI Committee on January 28, 2026. (Photo: Laurie Dieffembacq/European Union 2026 – Source: EP)

Progress in the EU

Important EU committee wants new AI legislation to protect music creators

The European Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) has this week adopted a report calling for new legislation to ensure better protection for music creators in the face of generative AI. “A clear political signal that creators' rights must be strengthened,” states TONO's Inger Elise Mey.

/ 30/01/2026 / Willy Martinsen

“It is a welcome development that the EU Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee has now adopted this report. It is an important step towards ensuring that songwriters, composers and other creatives receive both fair payment and recognition when artificial intelligence is trained on musical works,” says TONO’s Inger Elise Mey. She is the department director for TONO’s international work, with an emphasis on international political influence.

The report itself is not a legal text, but functions as a mandate and a broad political signal to the EU Commission and the further work that the regulations for generative AI and copyright must now be strengthened and made more concrete.

This requires the report

The report that has now been adopted requires that:

Copyright must apply fully to everyone AI services operating in the EU, regardless of where they are based
AI companies must be open about which works they use to train their models
It must become easier to get paid when your works are used in AI training
The EU must find solutions to prevent AI-generated products from competing unfairly with original works

Clear legislation a prerequisite

– Generative artificial intelligence cannot be developed in a legal vacuum. Clear and targeted legislation is a prerequisite for a well-functioning licensing market for generative AI. Without real requirements for transparency and clear legal frameworks for the use of protected works, we risk both legal uncertainty and distortion of competition to the detriment of Norwegian and European authors, says Mey.

She emphasizes that the input from TONO and other European rights organizations has contributed to the result.

– The news from the EU shows that we have succeeded, and have been heard. There is every reason to praise the EU Parliament for standing up to pressure from American technology companies, she says.

– A clear political signal that creators' rights must be strengthened, says TONO's Inger Elise Mey about the report adopted by the EU's important JURI committee on Wednesday, January 28.

Optimism also in Gesac

Gesac, the European rights organizations' voice in Brussels, which represents over 1,2 million European creators, is also happy about the news.

“This is a strong signal that the EU is taking creators’ concerns seriously. We need targeted EU legislation that ensures transparency, fairness and respect for copyright, no matter where in the world AI services are developed,” says GESAC Secretary General Adriana Moscoso del Prado. “Now the EU Commission must follow up with concrete measures. This is not only about protecting creators, but also about creating a fair competitive environment for innovative European companies.”

Read some previous articles about what we are doing to strengthen you as a TONO member towards AI companies.: