AI and law in musical training

Question from an SSPM member: What should I look out for legally when using artificial intelligence (AI) in music education?

Response from Dr Kovacs:
The use of AI in music education is becoming increasingly popular. It is precisely for this reason that a certain carelessness has arisen in the use of works and data, which is not appropriate from a legal point of view. In principle, the general legal rules that apply offline also apply to the use of AI tools.
The Internet is not a lawless zone. The following presentation of some "legal minefields" should help you to recognize and deal with them correctly. It is by no means exhaustive, so it is advisable to examine the issues involved in each individual use.

A. During input (feeding data to the AI),
please note the following points: In principle, all holders of rights to the data entered (e.g. images, texts, pieces of music) must request their consent (license). Without this, use is not permitted.

1. There are exceptions to copyright:
- Teachers may use works protected by copyright for teaching purposes, provided this is necessary for the purpose of teaching and the use is non-commercial.
- However, they are required to pay a salary.
- Short excerpts from copyrighted works may be quoted, provided the source is indicated and the use is made to illustrate the subject of the course.
- Copies may be made for teaching purposes if they are intended for students' personal use and do not exceed the necessary extent.
- However, it may still be necessary to obtain the author's agreement (i.e. a license) if the work is to be used on a larger scale or for events outside teaching.
- Many schools have agreements with authors or collecting societies (e.g. SUISA), under which they pay a flat-rate license fee to cover the use of music or texts in the classroom.

2. Data protection and privacy :
Many AI applications collect and process users' personal data. This is prohibited without their consent if it goes beyond generally known data. In particular, the use of photos of people is always subject to consent, as is the use and compilation of cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Schools and teachers must ensure that they comply with legal requirements. In particular, they must inform authorized persons in advance of the purpose of the data use and obtain their consent. The teacher must be able to provide proof of this. The teacher must also take appropriate measures to protect the data and provide proof of this.

B. Concerning output (the result of the AI tool's work),
the following points must be taken into account:
AI-based tools can generate or analyze pieces of music, write and correct texts and much more. But they can also use pieces of music or texts found on the Internet to modify them and thus generate new pieces or texts. For the moment, it's not yet clear who owns the rights to these new works: the developers of the AI programs, the users or the AI itself? What is clear is that AI itself cannot be the author of a work, especially as only natural persons can be.

C. Liability and conclusion :
If an AI tool or the user fails to comply with legal limits, or even provides incorrect information in the classroom, all those responsible - for example, the AI developer, the school and the teacher - are jointly and severally liable, i.e. they are jointly and severally liable for any damage in its entirety. This can be costly. That's why it's important for teachers to inform themselves about the specific regulations and seek legal advice in case of uncertainty.