Creative Rights In AI Coalition Calls On Government To Protect Copyright As GAI Policy Develops

A new coalition of rights holders including publishers, authors, artists, music businesses, specialist interest publications, unions, and photographers has called on government to spur growth in the creative and tech sectors by protecting copyright ahead of an imminent consultation.

Launching today (Monday 16 December), the Creative Rights in AI Coalition has published three key principles for copyright and generative AI (GAI) policy and a statement supported by all member organisations. The coalition is calling on government to adopt the principles as a framework for developing AI policy.

The launch is accompanied by the publication of new nationally representative public polling from Reset Tech and YouGov which found that the public overwhelmingly back transparency in the training of AI models and the payment of royalties to content creators by tech firms.  

Seventy-two per cent of respondents said AI companies should be required to pay royalties to the creators of text, audio, or video that they use to train AI models, while 80 per cent said AI companies should be required to make public all the information that their models have been trained upon.

In the statement, the coalition said: “The UK’s world-leading creative and tech sectors put it in a unique position to set a global standard for how both sectors can innovate together and continue to provide high quality services.

“Protecting copyright and building a dynamic licensing market for the use of creative content in building GAI isn’t just a question of fairness: it’s the only way that both sectors will flourish and grow.

“The UK creative industries generate well over £100 billion annually. We have, quite literally, earned the right to have our voice heard. The key to that success, and future growth, is copyright law.”

The coalition’s three principles for AI policy focus on a dynamic licensing market with robust protections for copyright, control, and transparency for content creators, and driving growth and innovation in the creative and tech sectors.  

The coalition added: “We support the government’s mission for long-term, secure growth in the creative and tech sectors. We are eager to see the development of a vibrant licensing market and support the sectors which rely on us for their future prosperity, but we can only do so with a robust copyright framework which preserves our exclusive rights to control our works and thereby act as a safeguard against misuse.

“Ours is a positive vision; a vision of collaboration between the creative industries and generative AI developers, where we can all flourish in the online marketplace. We call on the government and the tech sector to join us in building a future that values, protects, and promotes human creativity.”