Earlier this summer, South Korean collecting society Komca announced that it would be allowing ‘AI-assisted’ music to be registered as works, as long as a human had made a creative contribution to the lyrics, composition and arrangement.
Now it has withdrawn the plans after criticism – and a letter from the South Korean government calling for what the Korea Times describes as “broader public discussion”.
The decision is in the news again this week after an AI-generated track called ‘Forest of the Heart’ made it into the top 100 chart on Korean streaming service Melon.
The track, released by Joseon HipHop, was generated on Suno although the artist wrote the lyrics. Which plays in to those arguments about how much human input is required for a song to qualify for copyright protection.
(Some perspective, mind: the song “peaked at No. 89 on the Top 100 chart and No. 99 on the daily chart” before dropping out again. It’s very much a minor chart hit rather than a blockbuster, but is being seen as a sign of things to come.)
The Korea Times noted that Komca and fellow music-industry bodies in South Korea are currently choosing a tech partner for an AI-detection program, while talking to the government and other policymakers about how best to tackle the issues around AI music.