A digital rights organization has claimed to have scraped millions of songs from the popular streaming service and is getting ready to publish them publicly.
Potential Impetus for Artificial Intelligence Development
Industry experts noted the apparent data breach could boost AI companies looking for material to develop their models.
A group called Anna’s Archive reported it had obtained 86 million audio tracks from Spotify and 256 million entries of associated data such as performer and record names. The company, which hosts more than 100 million songs, stated that the breach did not constitute its full catalog.
“We have located and disabled the malicious user accounts that engaged in unlawful scraping,” said a company spokesperson.
The Swedish service, which has more than 700 million users worldwide, added that an investigation into unauthorised access identified a third party scraped public metadata and used questionable methods to bypass DRM protections.
Group's Declared 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 offering links to copyright-infringing books, wrote in a blog it wanted to create a ‘historical repository’ for music.
The group claimed the music files accounted for 99.6% of all music listened to by Spotify users and would be distributed via ‘peer-to-peer networks’, a method of sharing large data files online.
“Naturally Spotify doesn’t have all the music in the world, but it’s a fantastic beginning,” commented Anna’s Archive, which frames its mission as “safeguarding humanity’s knowledge and culture”.
AI Training and Copyright Debate
A composer and campaigner for defending artists’ rights, remarked the breached music would likely be utilized for developing artificial intelligence systems.
“Training on pirated data is sadly widespread in the tech sector, so this stolen music is highly likely to be used instructing AI models,” he said.
The group's website alludes to LibGen, a vast online repository of pirated books that has reportedly been used by the parent company of Facebook to train its systems.
The co-founder of an artificial intelligence company wrote on LinkedIn that individuals of the public could in principle “create their own personal free equivalent of the service”. The executive added it could also allow technology firms to “educate models on contemporary music at a large volume”.
Intellectual property law has become a key issue between creatives, writers and content creators on one side and AI companies on the other.
Government Considerations and Responses
In the UK, creative professionals have raised concerns against a government suggestion to allow AI companies utilize copyright-protected work without permission unless the owner signals. Almost every participant to a government consultation on the proposal has supported artists’ concerns.
The secretary of state for technology, innovation and technology told parliament this month there was “little consensus” on the issue, noting that ministers would “use the time to get this correct”. The administration has committed to make regulatory plans on AI and copyright by next year.
