The UK government is reportedly considering changes to its plans to loosen copyright laws to encourage AI innovation, in the wake of stiff opposition from the music business and other creative industries.
At the same time, a number of key parliamentarians involved in AI and cultural industry policy are urging the government to shift its focus from easing copyright rules to ensuring greater transparency in the training of AI models – a key ask of cultural industries in the debate over AI policy.
In a letter sent to Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Peter Kyle and Culture, Media and Sport Minister Lisa Nandy, members of two parliamentary committees said the government “should introduce practical measures to provide transparency on AI training data, whatever its approach to copyright law.”
The letter, sent by the Science, Innovation and Technology (SITC) Committee and the Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Committee, declared: “Underpinning our recommendations is the principle that everyone should receive fair remuneration for their creative work.”
The letter argued for the importance of copyright laws, noting that even AI companies benefit from copyright protection.
“Original non-literary written works, such as software, web content and databases, are not protected by patents under UK law, but by copyright,” the letter stated.
“The case of DeepSeek, which OpenAI alleges breached ChatGPT’s terms of service by copying outputs to train its model, illustrates [the] potential risks” to tech companies of loosening copyright laws, the letter argued.
The letter was sent on Tuesday (February 25), the same day as the deadline for submissions to a government consultation on AI policy.
The UK government is considering an “opt-out” policy that would require copyright owners to expressly state that they don’t agree to having their material used in the training of AI, otherwise AI companies could use the material by default.
“Underpinning our recommendations is the principle that everyone should receive fair remuneration for their creative work.”
Science, Innovation and Technology Committee; Culture, Media and Sport Committee
However, the Guardian reported on Tuesday that, in the face of opposition from cultural industries, particularly music, the Labour government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer is considering concessions to address rightsholders’ concerns.
One option, the Guardian reported, would be to limit the opt-out policy to UK companies only. UK developers would be able to use copyrighted materials by default, unless a rightsholder opted out, but AI developers from the US and elsewhere would be required to gain permission from rightsholders beforehand.
Another option would be to allow creative industries to opt out of AI training by default, but would allow mass media, such as newspapers and TV, to be used in training AI by default, the Guardian reported.
The potential changes come amid what the Guardian described as “intense lobbying” against the opt-out proposal by prominent artists.
Earlier this week, 1,000 musicians, including Damon Albarn, Kate Bush, and Annie Lennox, released a “silent album” in protest of the proposed changes.
Last week, the heads of the three major global music companies – Sony Music Entertainment (SME), Universal Music Group (UMG), and Warner Music Group (WMG) joined a campaign by the Daily Mail to stop the opt-out policy.
SME Chairman Rob Stringer asserted that “creators must be rewarded for being part of this technological revolution,” while WMG CEO Robert Kyncl said the proposed rule “would undermine the ability of artists and songwriters, copyright holders that invest in them and the creative community at large, to monetize and control their creative works and earn a living from their creativity.”
“The government’s proposal for the onus to be on creators to opt-out of AI training is like burglars being allowed into your house unless there’s a big sign on your front door expressly telling them that thievery isn’t allowed.”
Dame Caroline Dinenage MP
UMG Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge said the UK “stands at a decisive crossroads because what is ‘Made in Britain’ and exported to the world is not limited to physical products, but also intellectual property and copyright including music, visual art, life sciences and more.”
In a statement issued on Wednesday (February 26), Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Chair of the CMS parliamentary committee, compared the proposed opt-out rule to “burglars being allowed into your house unless there’s a big sign on your front door expressly telling them that thievery isn’t allowed.”
Chi Onwurah MP, Chair of the SITC committee, urged the government to “find the right solution to the relationship between AI developers and rights holders, balancing the interests of both for the public good.”
Added Onwurah: “A technical solution needs to be easy to use and accessible for everyone, whether you’re an AI start-up or an individual rights holder. The government cannot meet its commitments to the creative and AI sectors without this.”Music Business Worldwide
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