
The UK Government has launched a consultation seeking views on potential changes to UK copyright law and the potential establishment of licensing schemes, aiming to resolve the tension between creative industries and AI developers.
The tension exists because AI developers want to access large volumes of data – whether that be text, graphics, photographs or other inputs – to train their AI models, but the owners of copyright and related rights in such data want to be able to control the use of their works by AI models and/or receive remuneration if permission is granted.
Given that both industries contribute significantly to the UK economy, the Government hopes that its chosen solution will balance each sector's needs whilst rewarding human creativity, incentivising innovation and providing legal certainty. This is, by no means, an easy task.
Current position
The current position of copyright law in the UK is considered unsatisfactory by both sectors.
Creatives and copyright holders have highlighted a lack of transparency from AI developers about what content has been used to train AI models and how such content was acquired. This has created mistrust and given rise to concerns that content has been obtained and used without permission – and without any remuneration being paid to the copyright holder.
On the other hand, AI developers have expressed that UK copyright law lacks clarity on how developers can legitimately secure access to training data. This has potentially stunted AI innovation in the UK, with developers choosing more permissive jurisdictions in which to train their models. Further, where UK-based companies do not have this opportunity, this may have held back their adoption of AI or, at least, hampered their development, putting them at a competitive disadvantage.
Government's objectives and proposals
The Government seeks to find a solution which meets three key objectives:
- Supporting rights-holders' control of their content and ability to be remunerated for its use.
- Supporting the development of world-leading AI models in the UK, by ensuring wide and lawful access to high-quality data.
- Promoting greater trust and transparency between the sectors (and consumers).
Some of the Government's proposals for interventions include:
- A broader exception to copyright infringement for "text and data mining" to improve access to content for AI developers – a contentious suggestion amongst copyright holders, and a measure which had been floated by the previous Government, but was then rejected after a previous consultation (in 2021-2023)
- Accompanying the above, a mechanism to allow copyright holders to "reserve their rights" and prevent content being used for AI training – though it is not apparent how this would operate in practice and whether the technology currently available can give sufficient control to rights-holders
- A system for licensing (such as collective licensing and/or data aggregation) to ensure rights-holders secure remuneration where they agree to provide AI developers with access to training material
- Measures for transparency from AI developers about use of works to train models, ensuring such standards are effective, accessible and widely adopted.
The Government's consultation also seeks views from interested parties on the ownership and subsistence of intellectual property rights in AI outputs, labelling of AI outputs, the implementation of licensing structures, on how other bodies (such as those in education) may be impacted by any changes, and what providers should do to avoid AI outputs infringing copyright.
The results of this consultation are also expected to inform the Government's plans to implement the "AI Opportunities Action Plan" published on 13 January 2025, in particular recommendation 24: "Reform the UK text and data mining regime so that it is at least as competitive as the EU".
The consultation closes at 23:59 on 25 February 2025. Responses may be submitted via Citizen Space or via email to: copyrightconsultation@ipo.gov.uk.
If you would like any assistance in preparing your response to the consultation, please contact our Intellectual Property team.
This article is for general information only and reflects the position at the date of publication. It does not constitute legal advice.