Belgium votes against EU AI code of conduct amid copyright concerns

Belgium voted against an EU code of conduct for general-use AI on Thursday amid concerns over copyright issues, according to the federal minister for Digitalisation, Vanessa Matz.

A new part of the European AI legislation, the AI Act, will come into force on Saturday. The act will introduce rules for general-purpose AI models, including large generative models that can perform various tasks. 

The rules aim to ensure clearer information on how AI models are trained, better enforcement of copyright protection and more responsible AI development.

Non-binding code

The EU has also drawn up a non-binding code of conduct to guide the implementation of the rules. The document still had to be approved by the AI Board, which includes representatives of the member states.

Belgium voted against the code because it offers too few guarantees for copyright protection. In the country's view, copyright is protected not only by the AI Act, but also by the strength of the commitments within the code of conduct.

Raising level of ambition

During the discussions, Belgium proposed several amendments to raise the level of ambition, including simplifying the exercise of the opt-out clause for rights holders, ensuring fair compensation and excluding searches on websites that distribute illegal content.

Despite improvements compared to the original document, the text, which has since been approved and published, remains insufficient for Belgium.

'Not the end of the process'

"Belgium and other European countries have emphasised that this is not the end of the process. The Commission has acknowledged that the code may need to be evaluated and amended sooner than legally required," said Matz.

"I will continue to work with the relevant services to ensure that AI models take the interests of journalists, publishers, producers and creators into account," she said.

Legal uncertainty

According to the European Commission, 26 companies have already signed the code of conduct, including Google, Microsoft and OpenAI. Meta has announced that it will not sign the code of conduct because it creates additional legal uncertainty.

The Commission has warned that companies choosing to comply with AI legislation through other means "risk being exposed to more regulatory oversight".

^{Minister for Digitalisation Vanessa Matz © PHOTO BELGIAN_FREELANCE}