As part of the campaign group Creative Rights in AI Coalition, Pact has been campaigning for the Government to support proposals that would protect copyright in the age of AI.
This includes being one of over 400 creative individuals and businesses that called on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to back Baroness Beeban Kidron's amendments to the Data (Use and Access) Bill, which passed in the Lords on Monday.
The amendments would give the UK creative industries urgently needed transparency over the copyright works ingested by AI models. This transparency would allow creators and creative businesses to hold AI firms accountable for the mass theft of creative works that is currently taking place.
Pact continues to call on the Government to listen to the Lords and implement AI transparency measures to make the UK’s existing copyright regime enforceable. The Government is unlikely to accept the Lord’s amendments when the Bill is debated again in the House of Commons, but it adds to the growing pressure from the creative industries and MPs across parties for the Government to take the concerns of copyright holders seriously.
The Government has itself put forward amendments requiring an economic impact assessment and reports on the feasibility of an ‘opt-out’ copyright regime and transparency requirements. We do not think this goes far enough and would urge the Government to adopt transparency amendments now.
Write to
Your MP
We are encouraging all Pact members to get involved in this important campaign by writing to your MP in support of the amendments to the Bill.
Writing to your MP is a crucial step in ensuring that the voices of creative rightsholders are heard in the face of powerful lobbying from Big Tech. It will help to send MPs a clear message that creatives oppose the weakening of copyright protections for the benefit of AI firms and want rights to be protected. This way, we can build a future that still values, protects and promotes human creativity.
If you haven’t done so already, please take action now by writing to your MP using the Creative Rights in AI Coalition’s simple template. It takes a matter of minutes.
Portrait of Baroness Kidron released by UK Parliament under an Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) licence.