Government ‘AI Opportunities Action Plan’ published Mid-Consultation
On 13th January 2025, the UK government released its AI Opportunities Action Plan, written by Matt Clifford.
The Association of Illustrators (AOI) are deeply concerned to see that the Labour Party has already committed to implementing all 50 recommendations.
This includes the below recommendation on copyright law that could seriously damage the UK’s creative sector.
Reform the UK text and data mining regime so that it is at least as competitive as the EU. The current uncertainty around intellectual property (IP) is hindering innovation and undermining our broader ambitions for AI, as well as the growth of our creative industries. This has gone on too long and needs to be urgently resolved. The EU has moved forward with an approach that is designed to support AI innovation while also enabling rights holders to have control over the use of content they produce. The UK is falling behind.
As members of the British Copyright Council, Creators’ Rights Alliance, and Creative Rights in AI Coalition, the AOI strongly oppose these premature decisions about creators’ rights – especially while the Copyright and Artificial Intelligence consultation process is still ongoing. The timing of this announcement raises serious questions about the government’s commitment to a meaningful dialogue with the creative sector.
The Action Plan’s approach fundamentally misunderstands the current state of copyright law. There is no “uncertainty” in existing legislation, the law is clear that commercial AI training requires proper licensing of copyrighted works. This argument is being used as a justification for changing the law to the financial benefit of tech companies, under the pretence of clarifying it.
The UK’s creative industries generate £126 billion annually, and they’ve unanimously rejected these proposed changes. The government’s plan to emulate the EU’s opt-out approach for AI training data has been widely criticised as unworkable. A significant issue is that opt-out schemes may only work for works directly controlled by creators, not for downstream copies.
The AOI and its campaigning partners continue to engage in the consultation process, ensuring illustrators’ voices are heard while pushing for the protection of creators’ rights. The government must understand that sustainable AI development depends on respecting, not diminishing, the rights of the creative industries.
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