Lords warn AI copyright changes could harm creative sector

"Our creative industries face a clear and present danger from uncredited and unremunerated use of copyrighted material to train AI models. Photographers, musicians, authors and publishers are seeing their work fed into AI models which then produce imitations that take employment and earning opportunities from the original creators."

"AI may contribute to our future economic growth, but the UK creative industries create jobs and economic value now. In 2023, the creative industries delivered £124 billion of economic value to the UK and this is set to grow to £141 billion by 2030. Watering down the protections in our existing copyright regime to lure the biggest US tech companies is a race to the bottom that does not serve UK interests."

"The nation behind some of the most recognizable names in music, film, and the arts could drift toward a scenario where a small number of US-based firms get the benefit and the harms to British creators grow."

A House of Lords committee warns that weakening UK copyright law to accommodate AI model training would damage Britain's creative industries while benefiting US-based technology companies. The creative sector contributed £124 billion to the UK economy in 2023, employing 2.4 million people, compared to the AI sector's £12 billion contribution and 86,000 employees. The committee emphasizes that allowing uncredited and unremunerated use of copyrighted material for AI training harms photographers, musicians, authors, and publishers by enabling AI systems to produce imitations that displace original creators' employment and earnings. The report opposes weakening existing copyright protections to attract major US tech companies, arguing this represents a counterproductive strategy that sacrifices established economic value for uncertain future gains.

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