R.E.M., Billy Corgan & more protest AI theft with Stealing Isn’t Innovation campaign

The members of R.E.M. — Michael Stipe, Mike Mills, Bill Berry and Peter Buck — along with Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan, Bonnie Raitt, OK Go and others have signed their names to a new campaign targeting artificial intelligence.

The campaign, Stealing Isn't Innovation, backed by the Human Artistry Campaign, blasts big-tech companies that use copyrighted works for AI without authorization.

“Artists, writers, and creators of all kinds are banding together with a simple message: Stealing our work is not innovation. It's not progress. It's theft - plain and simple,” reads the statement on the campaign’s website. “A better way exists - through licensing deals and partnerships, some AI companies have taken the responsible, ethical route to obtaining the content and materials they wish to use.”

It adds, “It is possible to have it all. We can have advanced, rapidly developing AI and ensure creators' rights are respected.”

Other musicians supporting the Stealing Isn't Innovation campaign include MGMT, Cyndi Lauper, Chaka Khan, CAKE, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, The Zombies and Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon.