UK Initiates Consultation On AI Copyright Law To Help Artists
The UK government launches a consultation on AI copyright law to address artists' concerns, ensure fair compensation, and promote growth in AI and creative industries.
UK Initiates Consultation On AI Copyright Law To Help Artists
The Government of the United Kingdom has initiated consultation plans to provide artificial intelligence (AI) developers with clarity over the copyright law, to support artists' incomes and boost the economy.
While the Labour Party government said its proposals aimed to protect the creative industries, artists expressed concerns that the plans would not prevent Al companies from using their content freely.
In a statement, Peter Kyle, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology said, "It's clear that our current Al and copyright framework does not support either the creative industries or the Al sectors to compete on the global stage.” He added, “That’s why we are setting out a balanced package of proposals to address uncertainty about how copyright law applies to Al so that we can drive continued growth in the AI sector and creative industries."
Kyle said that the process would help deliver on the government's "mission of the highest sustained growth in the G7, as the proposals "aim to give creators greater control over how their material is used by AI developers and enhance their ability to be paid for its usage.” They also "seek greater transparency from Al firms over the data used to train Al models."
Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport remarked, "The government believes that our musicians, writers, artists and creatives should have the ability to know and control how their content is used by Al firms. They should be able to seek licensing deals and fair payments.”
Over 37,300 people, including actress Julianne Moore, songwriter Kate Bush, writer Ian Rankin, renowned actors, authors and musicians signed a global online petition warning about the threat posed by AI.
The petition stated, "The unlicensed use of creative works for training generative Al is a major and unjust threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works and it must not be permitted.”