ALCS welcomes report on artificial intelligence
Earlier this month, the Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Select Committee published the report Connected tech: AI and creative technology.
We were delighted to see that the report recommended measures that will support and protect authors.
The report warned of the consequences of a proposed copyright exception for text and data mining (TDM), which it said: “risks reducing arts and cultural production as mere ‘inputs’ in AI development.”
The TDM copyright exception, which was dropped earlier in the year, would have allowed widespread usage of authors’ works by AI platforms for commercial use, without permission or payment to the authors.
ALCS campaigned against the introduction of such a TDM exception along with our industry partners, so we are pleased to see the CMS Select Committee reaffirm its opposition to the measure which would risk significant damage to authors and the wider creative industries.
The report recommended that the Government continues to support a strong and robust copyright regime in the UK, is clear that licences are required to use copyrighted content in AI and works to ensure that creators are well rewarded in the copyright regime.
We are also happy to see the importance of copyright acknowledged. In the UK, copyright is central to ensuring writers continue to make a living from their work, and are able to create the content that AI developers, as well as wider society, depend on.
You can read the report in full here and find out about our principles for AI and authors here.
