CLA Members Reach Agreement on New Text and Data Mining Licence
New opt-in licence for commercial text and data mining to launch later this year.
PLS and the other members of the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA): the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS), the Design & Artists Copyright Society (DACS), and the Picture Industry Collecting Society for Effective Licensing (PICSEL), have reached agreement on the final wording of a new licence for text and data mining (TDM). Over the coming months publishers will be contacted by PLS and invited to opt in to the new licence.
The new licence permits a licensee to copy rightsholder content covered by the licence for use in TDM outside the current UK non-commercial copyright exception. The new licence does not allow for use of content in TDM to train an AI model, and licensees are only able to use content that they have legally accessed.
As part of the licence development process, last November, PLS carried out a broad consultation with publishers to collect feedback and understand potential concerns, with PLS ensuring that publishers’ interests and any issues highlighted were raised and addressed throughout.
PLS is currently working with CLA to develop two licences for the use of generative AI: one for the use of published works in generative AI tools in the workplace, and another for their use in the training of generative AI models. The first phase of a publisher consultation on both licences has just been completed with the second scheduled to take place later this year.
PLS CEO Tom West said:
“I’m delighted that the CLA and all its members have successfully developed and agreed upon a new licence for commercial text and data mining. The new TDM licence represents an important development in UK collective licensing, bringing together publishers, authors, and visual artists under a single voluntary licence for the use of content in this important and valuable technology. It once again shows that voluntary collective licensing can play an important role in providing solutions at scale that meet the needs of content users whilst fully respecting the interests of those that produce that content. PLS is proud to continue to support publishers and protect copyright through effective and innovative licensing.”
PLS Head of Rights and Licensing Amy Ellis said:
“PLS has represented publishers’ interests throughout the licence development process and ensured that the concerns we received shaped the final agreed licence. We will now look to invite publishers to opt in to the new licence and will continue to work with the CLA to ensure the licence launches smoothly. I’d like to thank all the publishers who took part in our consultation and provided their valuable feedback, and I look forward to continuing our consultation later this year on the two licences for generative AI currently being developed by the CLA.”
If you are signed up to PLS and wish to know more about how you can opt in to the new licence, please sign in to the publisher section of our website and access the following article.
