AI and Self-Employment in the Creative Sector: Collective Bargaining and Social Protection under Italian and European Law

The swift rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is set to reshape a huge number of industries in profound ways, causing major upsets also within the creative sector. Self-employed workers, who make up a large base of professionals in the creative industry, already face limited access to labor law rights (whether it be social protections or unionizing) and AI might exacerbate this type of issues in this delicate scenario. AI threatens to amplify these structural vulnerabilities of self-employment, putting in jeopardy the livelihoods of millions of self-employed workers in the creative sector, from musicians to writers and actors. This thesis delves into the challenges posed by the upcoming disruption of AI for self-employed creative workers, with a keen focus on social protections and collective bar-gaining. After a detailed outline of the AI phenomenon in the creative industry and how it affects self-employed creative workers, the study investigates the current Italian and European legal frameworks, assessing their adequacy in addressing these issues. Drawing on real-world case studies such as the Hollywood writers’ strike or the ‘Justice at Spotify’ campaign, the research identifies critical gaps in legislation, exposing the great precarity of self-employed creatives. The findings highlight an alarming scenario, where current legal frameworks seem to be insufficient to grant the necessary protections to a weak plethora of creative free-lancers. Building on this, the thesis advances some policy recommendations aimed at strengthening creatives’ position in labor law and safeguarding their jobs and careers from AI’s advent.