Orfium awarded EU funding to lead first of its kind research into copyright detection in AI-generated music

 

 

 

Orfium, the global technology company shaping the future of music rights management, has been awarded a major grant from the European Commission to lead a groundbreaking research project tackling one of the most urgent challenges facing the music and wider creative industries: how to detect and attribute the use of copyrighted works in AI-generated music.

 

The funding awarded to the Company is part of a €7.5 million project, named AIXPERT, by the EU’s Horizon Europe programme under the Explainable and Robust AI initiative, which aims to improve transparency and accountability in artificial intelligence systems across sectors. Orfium will work as part of a pan-European consortium and was one of only three proposals selected from 135 applications to obtain the grant.

 

The consortium, which includes Sorbonne University, Athens Research Centre, Amsterdam University Medical Centre, Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, the University of Barcelona, Novelcore, Furhat Robotics, Kyklos Ltd., Workable, Infinitivity Design Labs, ITML, Martel Innovate, Philips Consumer Lifestyle, the University of Groningen, the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence and the French National Centre for Scientific Research, has been tasked with developing AI technologies that can explain their decision-making processes. It will seek to deliver a comprehensive, human-centric AI framework grounded in FATE principles: Fairness, Accountability, Transparency, and Ethics. The project will create AI systems that are transparent, traceable, and inclusive by design.

 

 

Orfium is the only member of the consortium leading the application of this technology in the music industry, using explainable models to identify when and how AI-generated music incorporates elements of existing human-made compositions. Detecting these instances is the first step in enabling accurate attribution and compensation for original songwriters, composers and rightsholders.

 

The technology pioneered by this project will help to ensure that those who create the original human compositions are not left behind and can benefit financially, at a time when the Gen AI music and audiovisual content market is projected to grow from €3 billion now to €64 billion in 2028, according to CISAC (International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers).[1]

 

The project is believed to be the first research of its kind at this scale, and it could pave the way for AI-era copyright regulation, licensing and monetization standards that protect songwriters, composers and publishers in the future.

 

Rob Wells, CEO, Orfium said: “Coming at a crucial time in the development process of AI, this project is hugely significant for the music industry and fits closely with our mission to apply AI for the good of the sector. As generative AI reshapes the entertainment landscape, we are building the infrastructure to ensure creators remain at the center of that evolution. To be selected by the European Commission is a strong validation of Orfium’s position at the forefront of innovation in music rights management. It aligns with our commitment to leverage AI to tackle the entertainment industry's most complex challenges.”

 

Pantelis Vikatos, Senior Director of Research and Innovation at Orfium, said: “We are proud to be recognised by the European Commission as an innovator in this space and to be selected following a competitive process for such a vital project. Explainable AI systems could bring groundbreaking progress across numerous industries, none more so than music – there has never been a more important time to support songwriters, composers and rightsholders to be recognised and compensated for their work. We continue to lead the way in developing and applying AI for the benefit of the music industry, and we are excited to work with some of the most prestigious institutions in Europe to take on this challenge.”

 

The three-year project officially began on 1 June 2025. The research funding is part of the EU’s drive to remain competitive in the AI sector in the face of increasing global competition.

 

For Orfium, the initiative reinforces its strategic investment in cutting edge technology and strengthens its position as a global leader in rights and metadata management for the entertainment industry.  

Acknowledgment: This research was funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the AIXPERT project (Grant Agreement No. 101214389), which aims to develop an agentic, multi-layered, GenAI-powered framework for creating explainable, accountable, and transparent AI systems.