TL;DR

The House of Lords communications and digital committee has called on the UK government to develop a licensing regime for AI use of creative works and formally abandon proposals to let tech firms use copyrighted material without permission. The committee warned that the UK’s £146 billion creative sector faces a “clear and present danger” from current proposals.

The Report

The committee’s report, titled “AI, copyright and the creative industries”, takes direct aim at the government’s earlier proposals for allowing commercial text-and-data mining with an opt-out mechanism for creators. Committee chair Barbara Keeley described the approach as “a race to the bottom” that would water down existing copyright protections to attract US tech companies.

“AI may contribute to our future economic growth, but the UK creative industries create jobs and economic value now,” Keeley said, pointing to official figures showing the creative sector contributes £146 billion annually to the UK economy.

The report makes several specific recommendations: supporting the development of a licensing market that ensures artists are paid for their work, backing UK-developed AI models, requiring AI companies to disclose the training data they use, and giving creators stronger legal protections against deepfakes.

Government Under Pressure

The government is due to release an economic impact assessment and a progress update on its copyright consultation by 18 March. Ministers have been consulting on a new intellectual property framework for AI, which requires vast amounts of data — including copyright-protected material taken from the open web — to develop tools such as chatbots and image generators.

The consultation has offered four options: leaving things unchanged, requiring AI companies to seek licences, allowing use with an opt-out, or allowing use with no opt-out at all. The government has also refused to rule out a copyright waiver for “commercial research” purposes, which creative professionals fear could be exploited by AI firms.

The pushback from creative figures has been vocal. Elton John has called the government “absolute losers” over the prospect of relaxed copyright protections.

Looking Forward

A government spokesperson said ministers want “a copyright regime that values and protects human creativity, can be trusted, and unlocks innovation.” With the 18 March deadline approaching, the government faces a clear choice between protecting its existing creative economy and accommodating AI developers’ demand for unrestricted training data access.