She joins the likes of creative industry heavy-weights such as Paul McCartney, Thom Yorke, Stephen Fry, and Kevin Bacon amongst other actors, musicians, and writers, all of whom are raising alarms over what could be described as an assault on creative integrity.

The campaign, which emerged earlier this year, has gathered momentum with over 37,000 signatures. Its mission is clear: to prevent tech companies from exploiting copyrighted materials without consent. In a sharp rebuke to policymakers, it calls for urgent legislative action to shield creators from the encroachments of AI.

Bush’s endorsement is particularly resonant. Having stepped back from the public eye in recent years, the ‘Wuthering Heights’ singer’s decision to re-engage on this issue underscores its importance. Her involvement follows a rare interview in which she revealed a hunger to return to the recording studio, brimming with ideas for new music. It’s a striking juxtaposition: an artist who has long defined herself by her originality now confronting a technology that threatens to undermine precisely that.

It is not just creatives who are speaking out about the issue and signing the petition. Industry executives such as the composer Edward Newton-Rex - also a former senior executive at Stability AI who resigned over the matter – have warned about the potential for AI to dehumanise art by using it as training information for AI models. Newton-Rex and his non-profit Fairly Trained are working to ensure that creators are being treated fairly in the development of AI.

There have already been several cases where legal action has been brought to an AI company over the non-consensual use of copyrighted work. In early 2023 Getty Images filed a lawsuit against Stability AI in the UK High Court. The court proceedings gained momentum throughout 2023, with significant developments including judicial reviews allowing the case to proceed. The lawsuit is ongoing, and its trial is expected to address key legal questions surrounding copyright and AI training datasets​. The lawsuit encapsulates a larger cultural reckoning: as AI’s appetite for creative material grows, so too does the urgency to reconcile innovation with fair compensation for the human ingenuity it relies upon.

Cases such as these, coupled with events such as the deeply negative reaction to advertisements like Apple’s ‘Crush!’—released earlier this year, depicting a car crusher compacting a towering heap of creative tools, from pianos to paint pots, into an iPad— demonstrate that the delicate goodwill of utility that has existed between the tech and creative industries is being slowly eroded.

Companies like OpenAI, Meta, Stability AI and Apple are at a pivotal junction of trust between their creative consumer base and themselves. The response to this growing dissent at the appropriate or inappropriate use of AI, whether from government policymakers or the tech companies themselves, will likely shape the future dynamics between technology and the creative community for years to come.

This confluence of artistic voices and industry voices coming together in this petition represents a rare moment of solidarity across genres, generations, and mediums as musicians, actors, and writers band together to protect their craft. As Kate Bush herself looks to rekindle her creative spark, her message is clear: the future of music and art should be first and foremost in human hands, not at the mercy of imitative algorithms.

When it came to the unsuspension of the venue’s license, the venue voluntarily decided on extending their closure for another three months. It was considered that an extra few months to unmuddle the problems at stake, in order to ensure the safety that customers deserve, was necessary.

The O2 Brixton Academy has been around for almost a century. Providing a space in South London which has dedicated it’s services as a cinema, a discotheque and a concert hall. It’s a venue which many people have relied on and where artists hold their best memories.

Just a week ago the MET Police claimed to have “lost confidence” in the Academy and have started working towards the official closing down of the venue for good. No doubt this has caused an uproar amongst artists, music lovers and people within the industry.

Many of them have spoken up through social media, expressing their disappointment. The attempt to do this has lead the public to launch a petition on Change.org to bring a halt to the Metropolitan Police’s wishes. In only a matter of hours the petition had over 25.000 signatures and is now at 50.000. The highest signed petition in Change.Org’s history.

People know the crush was caused by people – pointing out that the venue should not take the hit by having to close down. It is a fixable problem. Some even brought up the fact that there have been more deaths at the MET police than the O2 itself. Which is something to think about.

Comments on the matter have surfaced on social media; Some included Tim Burgess comment on Twitter “Lost count of the amount of times we’ve played Brixton Academy – it’d would be a tragedy to lose such an iconic venue”.

Sister Bliss posted “Brixton Academy – @faithless have graced the stage there many times – and yet a terrible tragedy happened there only recently. But it is hugely short sighted to shut the venue permanently- generating jobs, local economy- bringing the best music to London! #SaveBrixtonAcademy”. 

The rock band Garbage also had their say with a simple “Save Brixton Academy #SaveBrixtonAcademy https://chng.it/RFzJKsZF via @UKChange”. 

An endless amount of support for the space has been apparent. It has proved it’s important stance within the industry’s members and how it cannot go unappreciated. Further information will be revealed in the next coming weeks.

Click here to sign the petition.

The agreement has granted other professionals in several industries to enter the EU without a visa, unfortunately it did not include musicians in the agreement. To tour Europe, bands and artists may need to secure visas for each country they are scheduled to perform in. This will add massive costs to artists and crew members, damaging employment in an industry that has already been so harshly impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The petition appeals to the government directly, saying; “We would like the UK Govt to negotiate a free cultural work permit that gives us visa free travel throughout the 27 EU states for music touring professionals, bands, musicians, artists, TV and sports celebrities that tour the EU to perform shows and events & Carnet exception [allowing the temporary import or export of goods without having to pay duty or VAT] for touring equipment.”

The petition currently has over 61,000 signatures meaning the government have to respond to it. If the petition reaches 100,000 signatures it has to be considered for debate in Parliament. Many musicians have taken to social media to encourage people to sign the petition, including Shame, Tim Burgess and Nothing But Thieves.

So many MPs namedrop bands and artists in order for them to seem relevant/ cool. We now need them to help us.

The UK music industry contributed £5.8bn to our economy in 2019.
– for that to continue, we need to be able to tour Europe.

Please signhttps://t.co/0Kj0fSmEH2

— Tim Burgess (@Tim_Burgess) December 27, 2020

The petition’s creator Tim Brennan spoke about the issue saying; “As a freelancer I and many like me travel through the EU countless times a year on different tours and events, this will become impossible due to cost and time if we do not have visa free travel.”

If you would like to sign the petition, you can do so here, you can also use this link to get in contact with your local MP about the issue.