The government’s consultation on changing the UK’s gold standard copyright laws to make it easier for AI companies to use British creative content – our books, photographs, music, journalism, films, and more – without permission or payment has now ended.

The Creative Rights in AI Coalition has been set up to collectively call for the government to “make it fair” and protect copyright, by providing control for creators across the UK’s vibrant creative industries in how their content is used and transparency from the AI companies using it. This is the only way to drive long term growth across the UK for both the creative and tech sectors. 

The UK’s unique status as the home of world-leading creative and tech sectors puts us in pole position to lead the way globally in the age of AI. However, advances in generative AI are entirely reliant on the use of high-quality, human-created creative works as training material. It is the essential fuel of the AI products we see and use today. There is a huge potential market for licensing the content produced by the UK’s creators that our country could take the lead in. But this will only happen if copyright holders have proper control of their content and fair payment for its use.

Yet the government’s consultation proposes to weaken copyright law and stymie the development of this market, sweeping the rug from under the creative industries that generate £126 billion for the UK economy and build our soft power abroad. Without fair payment, high-quality creative content will become harder to make and this will also see generative AI innovation stall too, going against the government’s own ambitions for growth in this sector.

Much has been said by the government about the “uncertainty” surrounding UK copyright law, but the existing law is clear: text and data mining – the method used to train generative AI models – is not allowed for commercial purposes without a licence. The only uncertainty is around which works have already been used as training material without a license. 

We at the Creative Rights in AI Coalition urge the government to enforce existing copyright law with meaningful transparency. This approach will help drive a dynamic and voluntary commercial licensing market by preserving and upholding our copyright framework giving creatives exclusive control on how their work is used. Transparency will enable those in the creative industries to hold AI firms accountable, incentivising tech firms to comply with the law and fostering a mutually beneficial partnership.

These solutions are clearly possible. MPs are currently debating measures introduced by Baroness Kidron to the Data Bill. These include robust transparency measures to make existing copyright law enforceable, rather than such transparency being offered as a “trade-off” for the removal of copyright protections the government proposes. 

Full control for copyright holders – with robust protections for copyright and greater transparency – is the only route which will allow us to continue producing the creative works that generative AI firms could then access through licensing. This would make a fair ecosystem which rewards and incentivises creativity whilst supporting AI innovation.  

This is not only essential for the growth of the UK’s world-leading creative sector, but also the next generation of British creative talent. We invite the government and the tech sector to partner with us in shaping a future that prioritises, safeguards, and enhances the role of human creativity in AI.