Danny O’Donoghue Highlights AI-Driven Copyright Theft in Support of Sinn Féin Motion

Danny O’Donoghue, the lead vocalist of the Dublin-based pop group The Script, has voiced strong support for a Sinn Féin motion titled “Protecting the Copyright of Irish Artists in the era of Artificial Intelligence,” scheduled for debate in the Dáil on Tuesday.

In an interview on RTE Radio 1’s Morning Ireland, O’Donoghue disclosed that he recently discovered 125 of his and The Script’s songs had been scraped and used without permission by five major AI companies to train their models. He described this practice as “outrageous” and characterized it as intellectual property theft occurring on an “industrial scale.”

O’Donoghue emphasized that a song’s creation involves a complex ecosystem, including numerous small businesses, and that the unauthorized use of such works undermines the entire creative community. “I just think it’s an absolute travesty,” he said, noting that while The Script is an established act capable of selling tickets, he speaks on behalf of many lesser-known Irish musicians who face similar challenges.

He acknowledged that copyright laws exist but argued that musicians typically focus on creating music rather than lobbying for legal protections. Drawing a parallel, he said, “If this was Coca-Cola and we stole their formula, you could be damn sure we’d be brought to court over it.”

O’Donoghue also highlighted the market dilution caused by AI-generated songs, pointing out that approximately 80,000 new songs are released daily, overshadowing emerging artists. He urged Ireland to leverage its presidency of the Council of Europe to demonstrate a commitment to protecting artists and to introduce legislation ensuring fair pay and proper licensing for the use of creative works.

Among the proposed legislative measures are AI “opt-out rights,” allowing artists to consent to or refuse the use of their material for AI training, coupled with appropriate compensation. He further suggested that government funding should be withheld from AI-generated content.

The Sinn Féin motion, tabled by Arts and Culture spokesman Aengus Ó Snodaigh, aims to draw a “clear line in the sand” between those who support Irish musicians and those who do not, according to O’Donoghue.

Responding to the issue ahead of a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Minister for Research, Innovation and Science James Lawless expressed sympathy for musicians’ concerns but described the matter as “difficult” and “complex.” He remarked, “I don’t think, in honesty, it’s going to be solved by a private members’ bill from opposition put through in the last week of the Dáil.”

Lawless acknowledged listening to O’Donoghue with “great interest” and stressed the necessity for European-level regulation. He affirmed that the Government will engage with ongoing regulatory developments and emphasized the urgency of addressing the threat AI poses to the music industry.

He also noted that politicians themselves face challenges from AI, including scraping and deepfake technologies that replicate their images and speech patterns.

The debate on the Sinn Féin motion represents a critical moment for Irish lawmakers to consider how to safeguard the intellectual property rights of artists in the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence.