Elton John joined forces with more than 400 other creatives as he urged Sir Keir Starmer to take action, as he warned: “our work is not yours to give away”.

Many singers, including Sir Elton John, have pleaded with Prime Minister Keir Starmer to make changes in the UK’s music industry. The Rocketman star has joined forces with more than 400 other creatives, including Dua Lipa, Sir Ian McKellen, and Florence Welch, in a bid to update copyright laws in a way that protects them from artificial intelligence.

In a letter to the Labour leader, Elton, 78, urged the politician to “protect” them and their works ahead of a key vote in the House of Lords on Monday (May 12). He and the other creatives want the PM to back an amendment, proposed by Baroness Beeban Kidron, to the Data (Use and Access) Bill that would require developers to be transparent with copyright owners about using their material to train AI models.

The open letter explained that the amendment would “allow both AI developers and creators to develop licensing regimes that will allow for human-created content well into the future.”

Sharing his words to Instagram, the singer penned: “The first job of any government is to protect its citizens. So, we urge His Majesty’s government to accept the Lord’s amendments in the name of Baroness Kidron.”

Elton continued to say that the amendment “puts transparency at the heart of the copyright regime and allows both AI developers and creators to develop licensing regimes that will allow for human-created content well into the future.”