Macronist deputies torpedoed the examination of a transpartisan law aimed at forcing AI giants to pay authors for the use of their works. A funeral welcomed behind the scenes by tech lobbies and the boss of Mistral AI, Arthur Mensch, to the great despair of the creators who denounce a “generalized theft”.
“Today is a day of mourning.” Cécile Rap-Veber, the general director of the Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers, did not hide her frustration after the failure to adopt a text aimed at better protecting artistic works. “The one where the deputies of the Renaissance group and its president, Gabriel Attal, have decided to bury culture and the press in favor of artificial intelligence.”
Copyright defenders deplored the fact that a bill aimed at protecting cultural content exploited by AI companies was not examined this Thursday, June 11 in the National Assembly, due to lack of time.
Listed on the agenda for the day reserved for the GDR group (communists and overseas), the debates stopped before it was discussed – the Macronist group having previously tabled around a hundred amendments to ensure that its vote was postponed late.
Reversal of the burden of proof
This transpartisan text, supported by a petition from 25,000 creators and 81 culture and media organizations, contains a unique article providing for a presumption of exploitation of cultural content by AI providers. Supported by Senator Laure Darcos (Horizons), it was included in the parliamentary agenda, after having been voted on unanimously in the Senate at the beginning of April then adopted in committee at the National Assembly.
The objective is to help creative and media rights holders negotiate with OpenAI, Google, Meta, Anthropic or Mistral AI for remuneration in exchange for the use of their works to train AI models. Currently, the burden of proof falls on cultural actors, but they find it difficult to prove use. For good reason: the European AI Act regulation does not impose any transparency on manufacturers on their training data.
“Technological innovation cannot be carried out to the detriment of the fundamental rights of creators and be built on the generalized and even encouraged theft of authors’ works”, criticized the National Publishing Union on Friday, affirming that “the government cannot give in to the blackmail of tech companies”.
“Creation must be remunerated at its fair value,” recalled Thursday evening the Minister of Culture, Catherine Pégard, referring AI companies and creators to new exchanges to “find concrete solutions”.
Arthur Mensch, chief lobbyist
“The real question is simple: do we want an AI based on trust, transparency and respect for the rules, or an AI that develops in opacity to the detriment of creators?” summarized the Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers (Sacem).
In recent weeks, the text has sparked an outcry from the tech sector, which notably feared “legal insecurity” weakening French AI companies. Le Monde and Le Figaro respectively noted the involvement of Numeum, the main lobby in the sector, and Arthur Mensch, the general director of Mistral AI, to convince elected officials to vote against the Darcos law.
“What explains this blockage, at least in the short term and in my opinion, is the good lobbying work of Arthur Mensch, the boss of Mistral, and Yann Le Cun [figure de l’IA, ancien directeur scientifique de Meta en la matière. NDLR]said director David Oelhoffen, member of the board of directors of the Society of Film Directors committed to the project, interviewed by Radio France. I know that they met all the parliamentary group presidents and I think that the government was extremely sensitive to their arguments.”
