UK proposes letting tech firms use copyrighted work to train AI
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Consultation suggests opt-out scheme for creatives who don’t want their work used by Google, OpenAI and others. Tech companies will be allowed to freely use copyrighted material to train artificial intelligence models unless creative professionals and companies opt out of the process, under UK government proposals.
The proposed changes are seeking to resolve a standoff between AI firms and creatives. Sir Paul McCartney has warned the technology “could just take over” without new laws. A government consultation is proposing an exception to UK copyright law – which prevents use of someone’s work without permission – that will allow companies such as Google and the ChatGPT developer OpenAI to train their models on copyrighted content. However, it will also allow writers, artists and composers to “reserve their rights”, which involves declaring that they do not want their work to be used in an AI training process – or to demand a licence fee to do so.
Chris Bryant MP, the data protection minister, said the proposal was a “win win” for two sides that have been at loggerheads over a new copyright regime. “We’re absolutely clear that this is about giving greater control in a difficult and complex set of circumstances to creators and rights holders, and we intend it to lead to more licensing of content, which is potentially a new revenue stream for creators,” he said.
The British composer Ed Newton-Rex, a key figure in the campaign by creative professionals for a fair deal, told the Guardian in October that opt-out schemes were “totally unfair” for creators. Newton-Rex has organised a statement signed by more than 37,000 creative professionals, including the Radiohead singer Thom Yorke and the actor Julianne Moore, that says unlicensed use of creative work for AI model training is a “major, unjust” threat to creators’ livelihoods.
