Writers, editors, musicians, photographers, film producers and newspapers have rejected the Labor government’s plan to create a copyright exemption to help artificial intelligence companies train their algorithms.
In a joint statement, bodies representing thousands of creatives rejected the proposal put forward by ministers on Tuesday that would allow companies such as Open AI, Google and Meta to train their artificial intelligence systems on published works, unless their owners actively choose to don’t do it.
The Coalition for Creative Rights in AI (Crac) said existing copyright laws should be respected and enforced rather than downgraded.
The coalition includes the British Phonographic Industry, the Independent Society of Musicians, the Film Association and the Society of Authors, as well as Mumsnet, The Guardian, Financial Times, Telegraph, Getty Images, Daily Mail Group and Newsquest.
His intervention comes a day after Technology and Culture Minister Chris Bryant told Parliament that the proposed system, subject to a 10-week consultation, would “improve access to content by AI developers, by time that would allow rights holders to control how their content is used for AI.” training”.
Tech UK, an industry lobby group, has called for a “more open” market that allows companies to use copyrighted data and make payments. The Conservative chair of the Commons culture, media and sport select committee, Caroline Dinenage, alleged that the government had “completely drank the AI Kool-Aid”.
But Bryant told MPs: “If we adopted an overly strict regime based on explicit and proactive permissions, the danger is that international developers would continue to train their models using UK content that was accessed abroad, but perhaps not. could be implemented in the UK… this could significantly harm sectors of our economy, including the creative industries, and sweep the rug from under British AI developers.”
The creative industries want to put the onus on generative AI developers to seek permission, agree licenses and pay rights holders if they want to train algorithms with the power to write and produce moving images, photographs and music.
The joint statement from the creative industries, shared with The Guardian, said: “Rights holders do not support the proposed new copyright exception. Indeed, rights holders believe that the priority should be to ensure that existing copyright laws are respected and enforceable. The only way to ensure creative control and stimulate a vibrant licensing (and generative AI) market is for generative AI developers to have the responsibility to seek permission and engage with rights holders to agree licenses.”
Last week, Paul McCartney and Kate Bush became the latest high-profile British creatives to call for a stop to artificial intelligence companies engaged in copyright theft. They joined actors Julianne Moore, Stephen Fry and Hugh Bonneville to sign a requestnow backed by over 37,500 people, stating that “the unlicensed use of creative works to train generative AI is a significant and unfair threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works, and should not be allowed.”
Novelist Kate Mosse has backed a parallel campaign to amend the Data Bill that would allow existing copyright law in the UK to be enforced, allowing creators to negotiate a fair payment when licensing their material.
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In a House of Lords debate on those amendments this week, their proponent, Beeban Kidron, compared the government’s suggested system to asking shopkeepers to “opt out of accepting thieves” and said: “I struggle to think of any other way.” situation where someone protected by the law must proactively wrap it around themselves individually.”
Clement Jones, Liberal Democrat spokesman for the digital economy, said the government’s proposed copyright exemption was “based on the mistaken idea, promoted by technology lobbyists and repeated in the consultation, that there is a lack of clarity in existing copyright law.”
Science Minister Patrick Vallance said the government wanted to “support rights holders to continue to exercise control over the use of their content and their ability to seek remuneration for it” and “support the development of AI models world leaders in the UK ensuring access can be wide enough.”