European creators reject AI Act implementation measures

A broad coalition representing millions of European creators formally expressed dissatisfaction with the EU AI Act implementation measures on July 30, 2025. The joint statement, signed by 39 organizations from across Europe's creative sectors, challenges the European Commission's General-Purpose AI Code of Practice, the GPAI Guidelines, and the training data disclosure template under Article 53.

The European Publishers Council led the coalition alongside audiovisual organizations, writers' associations, and musician collectives spanning 34 countries. Angela Mills Wade, Executive Director of the European Publishers Council, announced the position through professional networks, stating the coalition "strongly reject[s] any claim that the Code of Practice strikes a fair and workable balance."

According to the coalition statement, the cultural and creative sectors contribute nearly 7% of EU GDP and provide employment for nearly 17 million professionals. The economic contribution exceeds European pharmaceutical, automobile and high-tech industries combined. Despite this economic significance, the coalition argues their concerns were "largely ignored in contravention of the objectives of the EU AI Act."

The statement describes extensive engagements by rightsholder communities throughout the development process. The coalition participated in multi-stakeholder consultations involving nearly 1,000 participants between September 2024 and July 2025. The European Artificial Intelligence Board provided input on June 30, 2025, incorporating expertise from the Joint Research Centre's pool of experts.

The coalition's primary criticism centers on Article 53(1)(c) and (d) provisions, which were "specifically designed to 'facilitate holders of copyright and related rights to exercise and enforce their rights under (European) Union law.'" These provisions responded to ongoing wholesale unlicensed use of protected content by GenAI model providers in disregard of EU rules.

"The result is not a balanced compromise; it is a missed opportunity to provide meaningful protection of intellectual property rights in the context of GenAI," the statement declares. The coalition characterizes the outcome as benefiting GenAI model providers "that continuously infringe copyright and related rights to build their models."

The statement addresses immediate competitive concerns. GenAI models utilizing extensive scraping techniques are already deployed across European markets. "The damage to and unfair competition with the cultural and creative sectors can be seen each day," according to the coalition. The competitive disadvantage affects traditional content creators across multiple industries.

CISAC represents more than 5 million creators across 116 countries through 227 member societies. The International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers covers music, audiovisual, drama, literature and visual arts. GESAC represents 32 copyright management societies administering rights for more than 1.2 million authors, composers and writers across the European Union, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

The coalition includes major industry bodies representing different creative disciplines. ECSA represents over 30,000 professional composers and songwriters across 28 European countries through 59 member organizations. EWC comprises 53 national professional writers' and translators' associations from 34 countries, representing over 250,000 professional authors writing in 37 languages.

FERA serves as the independent voice of European screen directors through 46 member organizations from 31 countries, representing over 20,000 active directors across film, television and streaming platforms. The Federation of European Publishers represents 31 national associations covering books, learned journals and educational materials in all formats across Europe.

The audiovisual sector demonstrated particular concern through multiple representative organizations. CEPI represents over 2,600 independent film and TV producers across Europe through 19 national associations. The European Producers Club represents nearly 200 independent European producers from 35 countries specializing in international co-productions.

Publishing organizations emphasized specific impacts on written content. News Media Europe represents over 2,700 news brands across print, online, radio and TV through national associations from 16 countries. ENPA advocates for 14 national newspaper publisher associations across 14 European countries as principal interlocutor to EU institutions.

The coalition argues the Template for disclosure fails to deliver sufficient transparency about copyright works used to train GenAI models. "This is simply untrue and is a betrayal of the EU AI Act's objectives," the statement declares. The organizations demand the European Commission revisit the implementation package and enforce Article 53 meaningfully.

The statement calls on the European Parliament and Member States to challenge what it describes as an unsatisfactory process. The coalition warns the current approach "will further weaken the situation of the creative and cultural sectors across Europe and do nothing to tackle ongoing violations of EU laws."

Professional associations across multiple creative industries joined the statement. The International Federation of Actors represents more than 85 performers' trade unions, guilds and professional associations across 61 countries. FIM represents professional musicians and trade unions globally through members in 65 countries, recognized by ILO, WIPO, UNESCO, the European Commission, European Parliament and Council of Europe.

The photographers' sector expressed concerns through CEPIC, representing hundreds of Picture Libraries and Agencies managing hundreds of thousands of photographers' rights. These organizations license digital assets for commercial use including newspapers, magazines, advertising and broadcasting. The visual arts community participated through EVA, representing 31 collective management organizations covering close to 170,000 creators of fine art, illustration, photography, design, architecture and other visual works.

Academic and technical publishing concerns emerged through STM, the leading global trade association for academic and professional publishers. STM members compose over 140 organizations globally, collectively publishing over 70% of all journal articles. The association emphasizes protecting research and scholarly content from unauthorized AI training use.

The coalition's timing coincides with critical implementation phases of the EU AI Act. General-purpose AI model obligations took effect August 2, 2025, with enforcement becoming applicable one year later for new models and two years later for existing models. The comprehensive guidelines published July 18, 2025, established specific technical thresholds for model classification and provider obligations.

Major technology companies responded differently to the voluntary code of practice. Microsoft indicated willingness to sign while Meta refused participation, citing legal uncertainties. Google committed to the framework despite expressing concerns about implementation challenges. OpenAI and Mistral previously signed the voluntary code, demonstrating varied industry approaches to European compliance.

The marketing industry faces significant implications from these developments. Training compute thresholds exceeding 10²³ FLOP classify models as general-purpose systems subject to transparency and copyright obligations. Marketing applications generating creative content must implement policies addressing EU copyright law throughout operational lifecycles.

The creative coalition's statement represents the most comprehensive industry response to EU AI Act implementation measures. Organizations spanning music, film, television, publishing, photography, journalism and academic content united in opposition to current frameworks. The economic stakes extend beyond individual sectors to encompass European cultural foundations and Single Market operations.

The coalition demands meaningful protection for intellectual property rights in the generative AI context. Their unified position challenges the European Commission to reconsider implementation approaches that balance innovation with creator rights. The statement establishes clear opposition from primary beneficiaries the AI Act provisions were designed to protect.

Timeline

• September 30, 2024: AI Office launches multi-stakeholder process with nearly 1,000 participants
• December 11, 2024: Second draft published with EU survey launch 
• March 11, 2025: Third draft released following working group meetings
• June 30, 2025: European Artificial Intelligence Board provides input incorporating Joint Research Centre expertise
• July 10, 2025: European Commission officially receives final General-Purpose AI Code of Practice
• July 17, 2025: AI Office invites providers to sign the GPAI Code of Practice
• July 18, 2025: European Commission publishes comprehensive AI model guidelines
• July 18, 2025: Microsoft indicates likely signing while Meta announces refusal to participate
• July 30, 2025: Broad coalition of European creative industries formally expresses dissatisfaction with AI Act implementation measures
• August 2, 2025: AI Act obligations for general-purpose AI models take effect
• August 2026: Enforcement becomes applicable for new models
• August 2027: Enforcement becomes applicable for existing models placed on market before August 2025

Summary

Who: A coalition of 39 European creative industry organizations led by the European Publishers Council, representing millions of creators including authors, performers, publishers, producers, musicians, journalists, photographers, and audiovisual professionals across 34 countries.

What: Formal dissatisfaction statement condemning the EU AI Act implementation measures, specifically the General-Purpose AI Code of Practice, GPAI Guidelines, and Article 53 training data disclosure template, arguing they fail to provide meaningful intellectual property protection.

When: July 30, 2025, coinciding with critical AI Act implementation phases as general-purpose AI model obligations took effect August 2, 2025.

Where: European Union, affecting cultural and creative sectors contributing nearly 7% of EU GDP and employing nearly 17 million professionals across member states.

Why: The coalition argues extensive rightsholder community engagement was ignored, creating missed opportunities for intellectual property protection while benefiting GenAI model providers who infringe copyright to build their models, threatening European cultural foundations and economic competitiveness.