Giles Martin on AI plans: ‘It’s like saying you can burgle my house unless I ask you not to’
Producer Giles Martin has said plans to allow AI firms to use artists’ work without permission, unless creators opt out, is like criminals being given free rein to burgle houses unless they are specifically told not to.
Martin, who is the son of Beatles producer George Martin and worked with Sir Paul McCartney on the Get Back documentary series and the 2023 Beatles track Now And Then, spoke to Sky News at a UK Music protest at Westminster coinciding with a parliamentary debate on the issue.
Under the plans, an exemption to copyright would be created for training artificial intelligence (AI), so tech firms would not need a licence to use copyrighted material – rather, creators would need to opt out to prevent their work from being used.
Creatives say if anything it should be opt-in rather than out, and are calling on the government to scrap the proposals and stop AI developers “stealing” their work “without payment or permission”.
Giles Martin at the 2025 Grammy Awards. Pic: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
“If you create something unique it should be unique to you,” says Martin. “It shouldn’t be able to be harvested and then used by other people. Or if it is, it should be with your permission… it shouldn’t be up to governments or big tech.”
Sir Elton John and Simon Cowell are among the celebrities who have backed a campaign opposing the proposals, and Sir Paul has also spoken out against them.
“This is about young artists,” says Martin. “If a young Paul McCartney at the age of 20 or 22 wrote Yesterday, now… big tech would almost be able to harvest that song and use it for their own means. It doesn’t make any sense, this ruling of opting out – where essentially it’s like saying, ‘you can burgle my house unless I ask you not to’.”
‘I’m not anti-AI – it’s a question of permission’
The Beatles’ track Now And Then was written and recorded by John Lennon in New York in the late 1970s, and AI was used to extract his vocals for the 2023 release. The Get Back documentary also used audio restoration technology, allowing music and vocals to be isolated.
AI was used to release The Beatles’ track Now And Then in 2023. Pic: Apple Corps Ltd
“I’m not anti [AI], I’m not saying we should go back to writing on scribes,” Martin said. “But I do think that it’s a question of artist’s permission.”
Using AI to “excavate” Lennon’s voice was with the permission of the late singer’s estate, he said, and is “different from me getting a 3D printer to make a John Lennon”.
He added: “The idea of, for example, whoever your favourite artist is – the future is, you get home from work and they’ll sing you a song, especially designed for you, by that artist, by that voice. And it’ll make you feel better because AI will know how you’re feeling at that time. That’s maybe a reality. Whoever that artist is, they should probably have a say in that voice.”
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Crispin Hunt, of 1990s band The Longpigs, who also attended the protest, said “all technology needs some kind of oversight”.
“If you remove the ability for the world to make a living out of creativity, or if you devalue creativity to such an extent that that it becomes a hobby and worthless to do, then humanity in life will be far less rich because it’s art and culture that makes life richer,” he said. “And that’s why the companies want it for free.”
The Data (Use and Access) Bill primarily covers data-sharing agreements, but transparency safeguards were removed at committee stage.
Critics say changes need to be made to ensure that companies training generative AI models disclose whether work by a human creator has been used and protect creatives under existing copyright rules.
In February, more than 1,000 artists and musicians including Kate Bush, Damon Albarn, Sam Fender and Annie Lennox released a silent album in protest at the proposed changes.
At that time, a government spokesperson said the UK’s current rules were “holding back the creative industries, media and AI sector from realising their full potential – and that cannot continue”.
The spokesperson said they were consulting on proposals that better protect the “interests of both AI developers and right holders” and to deliver a solution “which allows both to thrive”.
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Radiohead star Jonny Greenwood hits out at ‘censorship’ and ‘intimidation’ after shows cancelled following ‘credible threats’
A member of rock band Radiohead has hit out at “censorship” and “intimidation” after shows he was due to play with an Israeli musician were cancelled following “credible threats”.
Guitarist and keyboardist Jonny Greenwood had been due to play two shows with Israel-born rock musician Dudu Tassa at Bristol Beacon’s Lantern Hall and London’s Hackney Church in June.
But on Tuesday, they confirmed the gigs would no longer go ahead after the venues decided it was “not safe to proceed”.
Greenwood has collaborated with Tassa for more than a decade and released the album Jarak Qaribak with him in 2023.
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (Pacbi), a member of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, welcomed the cancellations, claiming the performances would have “whitewashed” the war in Gaza.
A statement from Greenwood, Tassa and their musicians said: “The venues and their blameless staff have received enough credible threats to conclude that it’s not safe to proceed. Promoters of the shows can’t be expected to fund our, or our audience’s, protection.”
It said the “cancellation will be hailed as a victory by the campaigners behind it, but we see nothing to celebrate and don’t find that anything positive has been achieved”.
It went on: “Forcing musicians not to perform and denying people who want to hear them an opportunity to do so is self-evidently a method of censorship and silencing.
“We believe art exists above and beyond politics; that art that seeks to establish the common identity of musicians across borders in the Middle East should be encouraged, not decried; and that artists should be free to express themselves regardless of their citizenship or their religion – and certainly regardless of the decisions made by their governments.”
Pic: Lior Keter
It said the show also featured singers from Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait and Iraq, with “each of the members brought together by a shared love of Arabic song, regardless of where exactly they all happened to be born”.
The statement also said: “We find ourselves in the odd position of being condemned by both ends of the political spectrum.
“For some on the right, we’re playing the ‘wrong’ kind of music – too inclusive, too aware of the rich and beautiful diversity of Middle Eastern culture. For some on the left, we’re only playing it to absolve ourselves of our collective sins.
“We dread the weaponisation of this cancellation by reactionary figures as much as we lament its celebration by some progressives.”
Read more: Why are Kneecap so controversial?
The musicians also referenced Northern Irish rappers Kneecap, and recent calls to cancel their shows after one member appeared to call for the death of British MPs. Another video of the band appeared to show a member shouting “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah”. Both claims are being investigated by counter-terrorism police.
The statement said: “We have no judgment to pass on Kneecap but note how sad it is that those supporting their freedom of expression are the same ones most determined to restrict ours.
“We agree completely with people who ask ‘How can this be more important than what’s happening in Gaza and Israel?’ They’re right – it isn’t. How could it be? What, in anyone’s upcoming cultural life, is?”
Greenwood also faced opposition from pro-Palestinian groups last year after performing in Tel Aviv amid the war in Gaza.
Radiohead performed at Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv in 2017.
The Diocese of London, whic looks after the Hackney Church venue, told Sky News the promoter had contacted them on Friday to say the 25 June gig wouldn’t be going ahead. They said those who had bought tickets would receive a full refund.
Sky News has also contacted Bristol Beacon and the promoters for comment.
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