The proposal from France, Hungary, Italy, Portugal to the EU Council Culture regarding the protection of copyright and ensuring transparency under the AI Act.

During the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Culture of the European Union, following the debate on the initiative proposed by Portugal for the protection of copyright and related rights, representatives of France, Hungary, Italy, and Portugal jointly emphasized the opportunities and challenges arising from the rapid and widespread adoption of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) for the cultural and audiovisual sectors, particularly regarding the respect of fundamental rights, specifically copyright and related rights.

During the public debate, Slovenia, Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, Spain, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Cyprus, and Croatia have expressed their general support for the initiative.

The entry into force, in August 2025, of specific provisions of the European regulation on artificial intelligence (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689), namely chapters III (High-risk artificial intelligence systems), V (General-purpose artificial intelligence models), VII (Governance), XII (Sanctions), and article 78 (Confidentiality), in particular the code of conduct for general artificial intelligence (AGI) currently being finalized, will result in increased requirements for application and oversight by the competent national authorities.

In this context, given its cross-cutting relevance for the European cultural and creative sector, it is considered essential to address the issue at ministerial level, highlighting four aspects deemed fundamental:

1. Strategic impact on the sustainability of European cultural and creative industries: the increasing use of AI models has deeply influenced the cultural and creative industries, both economically and legally, generating new challenges in the protection and management of copyright. An adequate and timely response to these challenges is essential to ensure the economic sustainability and cultural diversity of Europe, while safeguarding copyright and related rights holders.

2. Opportunity for joint and coordinated intervention: this is essential to ensure a concerted and coherent approach among Member States in monitoring the implementation of the code, allowing lessons to be learned and knowledge to be gained that will help establish solid principles in the future to ensure greater effectiveness in protecting copyright and creative rights, ensuring that the European Union adopts a clear and solid position towards global operators and promoting a fair and sustainable competitive environment.

3. Urgency in ensuring legal certainty and transparency in the use of protected data: fundamental issues such as prior authorization by rights holders for the use of their works, including the explicit possibility to exercise the right of derogation provided for in the directive on the Digital Single Market (Directive 2019/790), the application of clear and specific contractual models, and transparency regarding the data used in the GPAI models, are essential to avoid future disputes and legal uncertainty. This transparency requires the mandatory adoption of unique identifiers (such as ISBN or ISRC) in data summaries used (according to the specifications of the model to be provided by the Office for Artificial Intelligence, Article 53(1) d of the Artificial Intelligence Act), thus facilitating rights holders in the full exercise of their rights, while ensuring trust and legitimacy in technological development.

4. Consistency with core values and with the current European legal framework: the ministerial discussion will also allow for the full alignment of the Code of Conduct being developed with the current European legislation, in particular with the Directive on Digital Single Market (Directive 2019/790) and the same Regulation on Artificial Intelligence. Legislative and values consistency will enhance legal certainty and respect for fundamental rights, economic and social justice, and fairness among all stakeholders in the cultural and creative sector.

Given the technical and legal complexity of the issue, as well as its strategic relevance for the future of the European cultural industries, it is considered essential to undertake this approach at ministerial level to facilitate an in-depth and cross-cutting discussion, allowing to anticipate challenges, clarify positions, and promote a strong European cooperation in the field of safeguarding fundamental rights in the context of artificial intelligence.

This approach should be closely coordinated with the entities responsible for implementing the artificial intelligence regulation, in particular the Council for Artificial Intelligence and the Office for Artificial Intelligence.