Cultural entities have welcomed the three main proposals -regulation of the work of minors, regulation of AI and sexual harassment- that have been incorporated into the development of the Statute of the Artist and consider that they are points that “had to be included”, since they consider that “they are common sense lines” and that they modify a “very old” norm, specifically from 1985, as the second vice-president and minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, has pointed out.
“The art world of 40 years ago and the art world of today are nothing alike. It has changed a lot. We think it’s great that the commitments and advances are endorsed with the labor reform of artists, which had to include issues related to equality or protection against Artificial Intelligence,” said the institutional head of the Union of Actors and Actresses, Ignacio Martin.
Martín alluded to the “exception” of allowing minors to work as long as it is in a “protected” manner. “Any progress in this regard will be good, because it was a very old decree,” he said. Regarding the figure of the privacy coordinator, which is intended to be mandatory, the head of the entity has pointed out that this is an issue that “goes in line with the current times”.
“Society has advanced and equality and the protection of workers is a pillar of our work. This figure seems fundamental to us, as are equality plans,” he explained.
In addition, he has positively valued that the proposal of the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Culture requires the authorization of the artists to train AI models. “A regulation whereby the artist maintains control over his rights was a fundamental demand,” he stressed.
Scriptwriters’ requests
For his part, the general director of FAGA (Forum of Audiovisual Screenwriters’ Associations), Rodolf Giner, focused on the regulation of AI and intellectual property. “We, in the past, have opposed that if there was no express veto, it was understood as an authorization. We think it is a great step forward that an express individual authorization is required to use the material,” he said.
However, he recalls that in the absence of regulation of AI use, the material is available to train the technology, so he calls for more progress in this regard. “In the years they have been working with artificial intelligence, how much material has already been used for AI training?” he questioned. “Now it’s all very well to regulate for what’s to come, but what about before that?” he added.
He also insisted that FAGA is fighting for works generated by AI not to be admitted “in any case” for the lines of aid to writing. “Any project that is susceptible of being subsidized or of receiving state aid must be effectively the result of the work of a human being,” he added.
