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A digital rights group has claimed to have harvested a vast number of tracks from Spotify and is getting ready to publish them online.

Possible Impetus for Artificial Intelligence Training

Observers noted the apparent leak could aid AI companies searching for data to train their technology.

A group called Anna’s Archive reported it had scraped 86 million music files from Spotify and 256 million entries of metadata such as performer and record names. Spotify, which carries more than 100 million songs, stated that the breach did not constitute its entire inventory.

“We have identified and deactivated the nefarious user accounts that engaged in illegal scraping,” stated a company spokesperson.

The Swedish service, which has more than 700 million users worldwide, added that an investigation into unauthorized access found a third party scraped public metadata and employed questionable tactics to circumvent DRM protections.

Archive's Declared Goal and Concerns

The streaming service does not think the music acquired by Anna’s Archive has been released yet. Anna’s Archive, which is recognized for providing links to copyright-infringing books, wrote in a blog it wanted to create a ‘historical repository’ for music.

The group claimed the music files accounted for 99.6% of all music listened to by its listeners and would be distributed via ‘peer-to-peer networks’, a method of sharing large digital files online.

“Of course Spotify doesn’t have all the music in the world, but it’s a fantastic start,” commented Anna’s Archive, which frames its mission as “safeguarding humanity’s information and culture”.

Model Development and Copyright Battleground

A composer and campaigner for protecting artists’ rights, said the breached music would probably be utilized for training artificial intelligence systems.

“Training on illegally sourced material is unfortunately widespread in the AI industry, so this stolen music is almost certain to be used instructing AI models,” he said.

The Anna’s Archive site alludes to a large online archive, a vast online archive of pirated books that has reportedly been used by the parent company of Facebook to train its systems.

A founder of an artificial intelligence company wrote on LinkedIn that members of the public could in principle “create their own personal free version of Spotify”. He added it could also enable technology firms to “educate models on modern music at a large volume”.

Intellectual property law has emerged as a key issue between artists, writers and content creators on one side and tech giants on the other.

Government Proposals and Reactions

In the UK, creative professionals have protested against a government suggestion to let AI companies utilize protected work without consent unless the owner opts out. Almost every respondent to a government consultation on the idea has backed artists’ concerns.

A government minister for technology, research and development informed parliament this month there was “little consensus” on the issue, noting that ministers would “take the time to get this right”. The administration has committed to make regulatory plans on AI and copyright by next year.