Gov plans to let tech firms ignore traditional copyright rules for AI

The Government is planning to allow big tech firms to ignore traditional copyright rules when training their AI systems.

Ministers are instead proposing that creative organisations, including music businesses and publishers, will have to opt-out if they do not want to have their work exploited by technology companies.

There is huge controversy over the way tech companies use content from the UK to feed their AI systems, without paying or crediting these firms.

The new consultation is proposing new requirements for AI model developers to be 'more transparent about their model training datasets'. This could see these companies made to provide more information about 'what content they have used to train their models'.

But the proposals are likely to be controversial as they place the responsibility on the creators of the content to take measures to protect their copyright.

There are also likely to be serious concerns about the government's ability to create a robust enforcement regime that would take tough action against AI companies that break the rules.

The proposals also risk putting smaller companies at a disadvantage because they would have to spend the time and potentially money to 'reserve their rights' rather than automatically having their copyright protected, as at present.

Added to this are concerns the new rules will not be applied retrospectively to the massive amounts of content that has already been ingested into training AI systems without permission.

Ministers announced the consultation a day after more than 40 organisations from music, art, publishing and film called for the Government to tackle big tech firms' unauthorised use of content to train AI systems.

The Creative Rights in AI Coalition is urging ministers to protect copyright rules for creative groups.

Ministers said they were launching the consultation today to 'bring legal certainty' to the creative and AI sectors.

It said the plans aim to make clear to both sectors how copyright material can be used to train AI models.

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The Government is proposing 'introducing an exception to copyright law for AI training for commercial purposes' while also allowing rights holders to 'reserve their rights'.

It says this would allow creators to 'control the use of their content' and along with improved transparency rules for AI companies, they would have more 'certainty and control' over how their content is used.

The Government said the proposals 'lay the groundwork' for rights holders to strike licensing deals with AI developers, when 'rights have been reserved'.

Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Peter Kyle, said: 'The UK has an incredibly rich and diverse cultural sector and a groundbreaking tech sector which is pushing the boundaries of AI.

'It's clear that our current AI and copyright framework does not support either our creative industries or our AI sectors to compete on the global stage.'

He added: 'That is why we are setting out a balanced package of proposals to address uncertainty about how copyright law applies to AI so we can drive continued growth in the AI sector and creative industries, which will help deliver on our mission of the highest sustained growth in the G7 as part of our Plan for Change.

'This is all about partnership: balancing strong protections for creators while removing barriers to AI innovation; and working together across government and industry sectors to deliver this.'

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy, said: 'This government firmly believes that our musicians, writers, artists and other creatives should have the ability to know and control how their content is used by AI firms and be able to seek licensing deals and fair payment.

'Achieving this, and ensuring legal certainty, will help our creative and AI sectors grow and innovate together in partnership.'

She added: 'We stand steadfast behind our world-class creative and media industries which add so much to our cultural and economic life.

'We will work with them and the AI sector to develop this clearer copyright system for the digital age and ensure that any system is workable and easy-to-use for businesses of all sizes.'

Speaking to the Mail this week, Baroness Kidron, who has tabled amendments to the Data (Use and Access) Bill to make UK copyright law enforceable in the age of generative AI, said: 'Artists, musicians, journalists don't want to stop AI, but they do want, like all others, to be paid for their labour.'

Media Minister Chris Bryant said: 'First of all we want to provide creators with increased transparency about how their works are used by AI firms.

'Secondly, we want to give them greater control over their works and improve their ability to be paid for its use.

'And thirdly, we want to support AI developers access to high quality material to train leading AI models in the UK.

'To put it in short we want to give legal clarity, legal certainty, where presently there is none, because that's in the interests of both the AI companies and the creative industries. And we want to see more licensing of content.'

The Government' consultation will run for 10 weeks until February 25, 2025.