Cohere—Cohere lobbied Canadian government for copyright exemption allowing AI training without compensating or licensing from rights holders
In submissions to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's consultation on 'Copyright in the Age of Generative Artificial Intelligence' (reported June 22, 2024), Toronto-based Cohere argued that AI training does not infringe copyright and that remuneration to rights holders 'would not be appropriate,' comparing model training to a person reading books to learn. Cohere also opposed proposed mandatory disclosure of copyrighted works used in training datasets, arguing this was 'effectively impossible to discern' at scale, and warned that licensing requirements would push AI development out of Canada. Google and Microsoft submitted similar positions in the same consultation; Music Canada (representing Sony, Universal, and Warner Music divisions) opposed the exemption, urging Ottawa not to let AI developers 'exploit creations without permission or compensation.'
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI Oversight | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Intellectual Property Ethics | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.429 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (medium ×1) × confidence (0.57)
Evidence (1 signal)
Globe and Mail: Cohere among AI companies pressing Ottawa for copyright training exemption
The Globe and Mail reported that Cohere, along with Google and Microsoft, submitted positions to a federal consultation arguing AI training on copyrighted works should not require licensing or compensation.