Paul Mortimer

Public affairs & campaigns @IvorsAcademy, former Labour Party Organiser. Big fan of social democracy, indie music, photography & cute dogs and cats

[Paul Mortimer @p_mortimer]

@rcolvile There's a good article about this from the NYT https://t.co/pcjGE15mA7

[Paul Mortimer @p_mortimer]

@g__j 39,362.6

[Paul Mortimer @p_mortimer]

Wes Streeting at the Progress Annual Conference where he announced his plans to run for the Labour leadership

[Ed Newton-Rex @ednewtonrex]

Big win for creatives today in the battle against exploitation by AI companies ⬇️

German court rules OpenAI infringed copyright when it trained on copyrighted song lyrics

https://t.co/6qioq17c1i

[John McTernan @Johnmcternan]

Solidarity Forever!

https://t.co/Q7VpqE2YR4

[Paul Mortimer @p_mortimer]

@underthenettle They had a Singer Sergeant exhibition at Tate Britain last year where they had both the painting and the actual dress!

[Paul Mortimer @p_mortimer]

Inside you there are two wolves (they are both silly Pomeranians)

[Paul Mortimer @p_mortimer]

Great to be at the @TheSMIA Summit in Glasgow over the last couple of days, helping to shape their Scottish Music Industry Roadmap and ensure songwriters and composers’ voices are represented

[Paul Mortimer @p_mortimer]

Over the last five months we've been working behind the scenes to ensure that songwriters are not out of pocket every time they attend a writing session. A per diem of £75 and expenses is the first step in ensuring songwriters are sustained and supported throughout their career.

[The Ivors Academy @IvorsAcademy]

We’ve secured that UK major labels will now pay songwriters £75 per diem + expenses for writing sessions.

Songwriters will be able to claim per diems from UK major labels using a form via @IvorsAcademy coming soon. In the meantime, ask your session contact to connect you with the label rep handling payments.

🎶 The mechanics of streaming still aren’t fixed, but this is a world-first win.

🆓 Join for free to stay informed: https://t.co/x3wYh0tgm8

📩 Stay updated - email: [email protected]

#PaySongwriters #StreamingReform #TheIvorsAcademy

[Ed Newton-Rex @ednewtonrex]

This shows why opt-outs from AI training are unworkable.

Timbaland uploaded K Fresh’s track to Suno without permission. Suno’s terms make it clear they will train on music you upload. That is, Timbaland uploaded K Fresh’s music, and Suno will now presumably train on it.

Even if Suno gave you a way to opt-out of training - which they don’t - there’s no reason K Fresh would have heard of it. K Fresh has zero control over Suno training on his music.

This is why training must be based on opt-in licensing. Anything else exploits musicians and their work. Opt-outs don’t work.

(The fact that this is Timbaland, a partner of Suno, makes this so much worse. Why is Timbaland uploading other musicians’ work to Suno, music which Suno will then train on, and implicitly encouraging other users to do the same? Serious questions to ask about this partnership IMO.)

[Paul Mortimer @p_mortimer]

@RevRichardColes Research from the government off the back of our campaign on music streaming found that a songwriter receiving 1m streams a month would earn £15,288 per year

[Paul Mortimer @p_mortimer]

Enjoyed our first train journey on the now nationalised South Western Railways

[Ed Newton-Rex @ednewtonrex]

In huge news, the UK government was just defeated in the House of Lords for a second time over AI & copyright.

The government had removed amendments to the Data Bill that would require AI companies to disclose their training data. The Lords have now reinserted them.

Most @UKLabour peers supported the government and AI companies. Everyone else - i.e. the vast majority of the Lords - supported creators & the creative industries.

[Paul Mortimer @p_mortimer]

Congratulations to everyone who ran the London Marathon today. You definitely earned that pint.

[Paul Mortimer @p_mortimer]

@Kelly__Wood Thanks so much Kelly!

[Paul Mortimer @p_mortimer]

Some nice news to end the work week on! Looking forwards to supporting some amazing songwriters and composers, ensuring that their voices are heard far and wide

[The Ivors Academy @IvorsAcademy]

We’re pleased to announce the promotion of Paul Mortimer to Public Affairs and Campaigns Manager at The Ivors Academy.

Since joining the Academy in 2022, Paul has played a central role in shaping our advocacy by building relationships with Parliamentarians, and progressing key issues including AI, fair pay for music creators, arts funding and coercive commissioning practices in screen music.

In his new role, Paul will continue to work closely with CEO @RobertoNeri47 , Chair @MrTomGray, and policy leads Maria McMillan and Jenny Goodwin to advance the Academy’s mission to protect, empower and celebrate songwriters and composers.

Paul said: “I’m proud to step into this new role at such a crucial time for songwriters and composers. The Ivors Academy is leading the way on some of the most important debates in music, and it’s an honour to be part of the team fighting for a fairer and more sustainable future.”

Roberto Neri, CEO of The Ivors Academy, added: “Paul’s commitment and passion for advocacy have been invaluable to the Academy’s work. This promotion reflects the impact he’s already made and the energy we know he’ll continue to bring as we campaign to protect, celebrate and empower songwriters and composers.”

Please join us in congratulating Paul.

#musicindustry #songwriters #publishing #creativeindustries #musicpolicy

[The Ivors Academy @IvorsAcademy]

We’re calling on @SunoMusic to pull its ReMi AI lyrics tool.

Reporting by @CMU shows it can generate copies of entire lyrics from iconic songs like American Pie and Take It Easy using basic prompts – without permission.

@RobertoNeri47 our CEO, says: “This is the latest example of unethical AI firms stealing the work, art and livelihoods of lyricists, songwriters and composers.”

We’re demanding action to protect music creators and calling for stronger copyright law.

[The Ivors Academy @IvorsAcademy]

Our CEO @RobertoNeri47 spoke to @billboard about the UK government’s Spring Statement:

https://t.co/6vYYwPpGFm

"Since the pandemic, the music industry has grown almost twice as fast as the wider economy. As the government looks for growth, it should support our world-leading songwriters and composers as the originators of all value in music and invest in the infrastructure they rely on."

Read the full story here 👇

#musicindustry #ukmusic #bbc #artscouncil #springstatement #billboard #musicnews #culturematters