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An activist organization has claimed to have harvested millions of tracks from Spotify and is preparing to publish them online.

Potential Impetus for Artificial Intelligence Training

Industry experts noted the seeming leak could boost artificial intelligence firms searching for material to develop their models.

A group called Anna’s Archive reported it had obtained 86 million music files from the platform and 256 million rows of associated data such as artist and album names. The company, which carries more than 100 million songs, stated that the breach did not constitute its full inventory.

“We have identified and deactivated the nefarious user accounts that were involved in unlawful scraping,” said a company spokesperson.

The Swedish service, which has more than 700 million subscribers worldwide, further explained that an investigation into unauthorized access found a external actor collected public metadata and used illicit methods to bypass DRM [digital rights management].

Archive's Stated Mission and Worries

The streaming service does not believe the audio taken by Anna’s Archive has been made public yet. Anna’s Archive, which is recognized for providing links to copyright-infringing books, wrote in a blog it wanted to create a ‘preservation archive’ for music.

They asserted the music files accounted for 99.6% of all music streamed to by its listeners and would be shared via ‘peer-to-peer networks’, a means of exchanging large digital files online.

“Of course the service doesn’t have all the music in the world, but it’s a fantastic start,” said Anna’s Archive, which frames its mission as “safeguarding humanity’s knowledge and heritage”.

AI Training and Copyright Debate

Ed Newton-Rex for protecting artists’ copyright, said the leaked music would probably be utilized for developing artificial intelligence systems.

“Training on pirated material is unfortunately common in the AI industry, so this accessed music is almost certain to be used instructing AI models,” he said.

The Anna’s Archive site makes references to LibGen, a vast online archive of copyrighted books that has reportedly been used by the parent company of Facebook to develop its systems.

A founder of an AI startup posted on LinkedIn that individuals of the public could in theory “create their own personal free equivalent of Spotify”. The executive said it could also enable tech companies to “train on modern music at scale”.

Intellectual property law has emerged as a battleground between artists, authors and content creators on one side and tech giants on the other.

Policy Considerations and Responses

In the UK, artists and writers have raised concerns against a government proposal to allow AI companies utilize protected work without permission unless the rights holder opts out. Virtually every participant to a government consultation on the idea has backed artists’ apprehensions.

A government minister for technology, innovation and development told parliament this month there was “little consensus” on the issue, adding that ministers would “take the time to get this correct”. The administration has pledged to make policy proposals on AI and copyright by March 2025.