đ Share this article Advocacy Collective Asserts to Have Scraped Millions of Audio Files from the Streaming Giant A digital rights organization has stated to have harvested millions of tracks from the popular streaming service and is preparing to publish them online. Potential Boost for Artificial Intelligence Training Observers noted the apparent leak could aid AI companies searching for material to train their technology. A group called Annaâs Archive said it had obtained 86 million audio tracks from the platform and 256 million rows of metadata such as performer and record names. The company, which hosts more than 100 million songs, confirmed that the breach did not represent its full catalog. âWe have identified and deactivated the malicious user accounts that engaged in unlawful scraping,â stated a Spotify representative. The Stockholm-based company, which has more than 700 million users worldwide, added that an investigation into unauthorised access found a external actor collected public metadata and used questionable tactics to circumvent DRM protections. Group's Stated Mission and Worries The streaming service does not think the audio taken by Annaâs Archive has been released yet. Annaâs Archive, which is recognized for providing links to pirated books, wrote in a blog it wanted to create a âhistorical repositoryâ for music. The group claimed the music files accounted for 99.6% of all music listened to by its listeners and would be shared via âtorrentsâ, a means of sharing large digital files online. âOf course the service doesnât have all the music in the world, but itâs a great beginning,â commented Annaâs Archive, which describes its mission as âpreserving humanityâs information and cultureâ. AI Training and Copyright Debate A composer and campaigner for defending artistsâ rights, remarked the leaked music would likely be used for training AI models. âEducating models on illegally sourced data is unfortunately common in the AI industry, so this stolen music is almost certain to end up instructing AI models,â he stated. The Annaâs Archive site makes references to LibGen, a huge online archive of copyrighted books that has reportedly been used by Meta to train its AI models. A founder of an AI startup wrote on LinkedIn that members of the public could in theory âbuild their own personal free version of the serviceâ. He added it could also allow tech companies to âeducate models on contemporary music at a large volumeâ. Intellectual property law has emerged as a battleground between artists, writers and content creators on one side and tech giants on the other. Policy Considerations and Reactions In the UK, artists and writers have raised concerns against a ministerial suggestion to allow AI companies use copyright-protected work without consent unless the owner signals. Virtually every respondent to a government consultation on the proposal has backed artistsâ concerns. The secretary of state for technology, research and development told parliament this month there was âno clear consensusâ on the matter, noting that ministers would âuse the time to get this correctâ. The government has pledged to make policy proposals on AI and copyright by March 2025.