21 January 2025
Consultation on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence: What could this mean for you?
On December 17th, 2024, the UK’s Intellectual Property Office with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Department for Culture, Media and Sport launched an open consultation on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence.
As a rights holder, museum, or archive, the outcomes of this consultation could have far-reaching implications for how your collections and creative works are utilised in the age of AI. For rights holders, it may impact your ability to control and monetise your intellectual property. Museums and archives might need to navigate new regulations governing the use of their collections for AI training, balancing public accessibility with the protection and preservation of intellectual property. Depending on the direction taken, your organisation could encounter new licensing opportunities, challenges to maintaining control over the use of your works, or obligations to implement rights-reservation mechanisms. It’s crucial to make your voice heard!
The consultation invites input from stakeholders on how the UK’s legal framework can best support both the creative industries and the AI sector. It focuses on issues related to training AI models using copyright-protected materials through Text and Data Mining (TDM). Additionally, it addresses other emerging copyright concerns in AI, such as protection for computer-generated works (CGWs) and approaches to managing AI-generated deepfakes.
The Government’s stated objectives are:
- Transparency To foster trust between the two sectors by ensuring AI developers are more transparent in how they acquire and use copyright protected material to train their models and to generate outputs.
- Control Enhance rights holder’s control over whether their works can be used to train AI models and ensure they are paid if their works are used.
- Access Ensure AI developers can access high quality and quantities of material for training AI models without infringing copyright and support innovation across the UK’s AI sector.
What are the consultation’s policy options for TDM:
The IPO has proposed four policy options and assessed them against the Government’s objectives:
- Option 0: Do nothing – Copyright and related laws remain the same
This means the existing TDM exception, which only applies to non-commercial scientific research, would remain. The current legal framework however lacks clarity, making it difficult for rights holders to seek remuneration and for AI developers to understand the legal risks. The government rejected this option as its stated objectives of control, access, and transparency are unlikely to be met.
- Option 1: Strengthen copyright requiring licensing in all cases.
This option would require express licenses for all use of copyrighted works for AI training purposes. This would favour copyright holders but make access more difficult for AI developers, disadvantaging the UK AI sector compared to other jurisdictions such as the US and the EU. “This is likely to make the UK a less attractive location for AI development, reducing investment in the sector”[1]. While meeting the control and transparency objectives, it would not meet the access objective.
- Option 2: A broad data mining exception.
This would allow data mining for AI training without right holders’ permission, subject to few or no restrictions. In 2022 the previous Conservative Government proposed a broad exception but did not implement it after lobbying by rights holders and the UK’s creative industries. While enhancing access for developers, it would undermine right holders’ control and ability to receive remuneration. As such it was assessed as meeting the access objective but not the control and transparency objectives.
- Option 3: A data mining exception with a rights reservation mechanism
This would permit TDM for any use, but right holders could opt-out individual works, sets of works or all their works from being used for commercial purposes by a machine-readable notice. Rights holders would be entitled to seek payment for the use of their works through licensing agreements including through collective licensing bodies. This option has been assessed as having the potential to meet all three of the Government’s objectives of control, access, and transparency and is therefore the preferred option. Its effectiveness, however, will be dependent on the development of mechanisms to reserve rights that are easy to implement and robust measures to ensure transparency and compliance by AI developers.
How can you engage with the consultation?
Anyone with an interest in the issue of copyright and AI can share their views on the proposals outlined in the consultation. There are 47 questions posed in the consultation document, but you do not need to respond to every question. Responses can be made via Citizen Space or to copyrightconsultation@ipo.gov.uk. Guidance on providing evidence for policy making is also available.
The deadline for submitting evidence for the consultation is 11.59pm on February 25th 2025.
Naomi Korn Associates’ course on AI and Information Law: Privacy and Ethical Considerations (Tue, 4 Mar 2025 09:30 – 13:00 GMT)explores the challenges that AI poses to personal data. Book today via Eventbrite or for more information, contact our Training Manager at info@naomikorn.com.
[1] Summary of Copyright and AI assessment options document https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/copyright-and-artificial-intelligence