CLA Board Agrees New Licensing Rights for Workplace AI

On Monday 2 December 2024, the board and members of the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) including PLS formally agreed to a proposal to add new collective licensing rights covering the use of generative artificial intelligence tools in the workplace to its current business and public sector licensing.

The new rights will allow licensees to make copies of copyright protected works for use in the prompting of generative AI tools. It will also allow licensees to use the outputs of the generative AI prompt for internal purposes and limited external purposes. Training and fine tuning of the underlying models are expressly prohibited.  

PLS will shortly begin to invite publishers to opt into the licence extensions, with the expanded licences to be made available to all UK businesses and public sector organisations in early 2025. 

The agreement builds upon the addition of non-generative AI text and data mining rights to existing CLA business and public sector licences, which was agreed by CLA members in July.  

If you have any questions or are a publisher wishing to opt in to the licence extension, please contact publisher-relations@pls.org.uk. 

PLS Chief Executive Tom West said: 

“This is another very positive step for PLS and the publishers we represent and further proof that voluntary collective licensing can play an important role in addressing the challenges posed to copyright by artificial intelligence. The development of effective collective licensing is a key part of PLS’ work and the increased use of generative AI tools requires us to offer solutions – ensuring that publishers’ interests remain protected and that they can earn revenue from use of their content with this new technology.” 

PLS Head of Rights and Licensing Amy Ellis said: 

“I’d like to thank all publishers who took the time to take part in our consultation on the new licence rights and provided their feedback. We have listened closely to publishers throughout the consultation process and been able to use the information provided in the development of the CLA proposals to ensure that the licence terms and associated guidelines are appropriately crafted to address any concerns.”