ABBA co-founder and CISAC President Björn Ulvaeus is demanding that creators receive direct compensation when their copyrighted works are used to train artificial intelligence systems, a stance he will solidify during a keynote at the United Nations’ AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva. This position directly challenges the current industry practice where AI developers often ingest vast datasets of music and text without permission or payment, threatening the royalty streams that sustain songwriters, publishers, and labels globally.
The Core Economic Argument for Creators
Ulvaeus’s central argument is that AI systems cannot function without human creativity, meaning the industry must pay for the data that fuels these models. Speaking at the summit on July 8, 2026, he will assert that “we should be paid for what went in,” rejecting the framing of AI as a replacement for artists and instead advocating for a model of “AI with creators”. As the head of the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), which represents over five million creators across 110 countries, Ulvaeus holds significant leverage to influence global policy on how AI companies monetize copyrighted content.
His advocacy rests on three non-negotiable pillars: transparency regarding which works train AI systems, meaningful consent allowing creators to license their output, and guaranteed fair remuneration when their work contributes to AI-generated results. Without these protections, Ulvaeus warns that the cultural sector risks losing its fundamental right to negotiate for the use of its work, effectively weakening the ability of millions of professionals to earn a living from their talent.
Policy Recommendations and Industry Implications
Ulvaeus has formalized his stance into three specific policy recommendations that he urges governments and regulators to adopt immediately. First, AI training must be subject to clear transparency rules so rights holders know exactly what data is being used. Second, creators must retain the ability to license their own works rather than having them stripped of rights through broad exceptions. Third, remuneration for those creators must be legally guaranteed whenever their content is utilized.
These demands align with CISAC’s national campaign, “Say No to AI Training on Unlicensed Music,” which has already secured signatures from more than 6,000 artists urging the Government of Canada and other bodies to rule out copyright exceptions that permit unauthorized use of protected works for AI training. The stakes are particularly high for the music industry as legal battles like GEMA versus Suno in Europe and US fair-use rulings approach, with Ulvaeus noting that if AI companies win these cases, “every licensing deal in the AI music space collapses”. For radio programmers, labels, and publishers, Ulvaeus’s UN appearance signals a potential shift toward a licensing-first framework that could redefine how music is monetized in the age of generative AI.
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