Post by Ed Newton-Rex

Today, the House of Lords Digital & Communications Committee published their report on AI, copyright & the creative industries. I was pleased to give evidence to the committee, and am even more pleased to see that their conclusion - which could not be clearer - is that the government should not weaken copyright law by handing AI companies the work of the UK’s creatives. They say: - The government must not weaken copyright law, and should instead strengthen licensing, transparency & enforcement - The government should stop prioritising large multinational tech firms - The government’s mixed public messaging on AI & copyright is hindering licensing - The government should make a clear public statement that AI companies operating in the UK need to license their training data (which is the law) - AI training isn’t ‘learning’, and shouldn’t be treated as such “We therefore consider that the Government should rule out any reform of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act that would remove the incentive to license copyrighted works for AI training, and should instead focus on strengthening licensing, transparency and enforcement within the existing framework.” The House of Lords has been absolutely consistent on this, and they are totally right. Will th government listen?