MPs have warned that British writers, musicians, artists and journalists will have “each and every piece of their creativity” stolen by artificial intelligence (AI) under government plans to hand tech giants unfettered access to UK-made content.
Politicians and creative leaders say Labour’s plans to modify copyright protections risk fatally undermining the UK’s creative industries. They backed the Make It Fair campaign, launched yesterday by a coalition of media, publishing and entertainment organisations.
Ministers argue that their proposals – which would allow generative AI models to be trained on high-quality material created in the UK for free – will help turn Britain into a global hub for AI, and may encourage economic growth.
But the copyright plans are now coming under fire from across the political spectrum and some of the UK’s best-known artists, including Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John and Dua Lipa, who warn that revenues and livelihoods face being signed away en masse.
The campaign, which is supported by The i Paper, calls for existing copyright laws to be upheld so that AI companies are required to declare the source of their training data as well as pay a licence fee for the British-created material they scrape from the internet.
Pete Wishart, an SNP MP and former member of the Scottish rock bands Big Country and Runrig, told The i Paper: “If these plans go ahead we will have a situation where AI companies will be taking each and every piece of human creativity for nothing and using it to outcompete our own artists. This is nothing less than an existential threat to our creative heritage by allowing it to be regurgitated without recompense.
“My inbox is overflowing with messages from constituents who are really concerned about what they are observing and I think the Government will have to listen. Its plans for turning the UK into an AI-friendly economy cannot come at the expense of destroying one of the most cherished and lucrative sectors of our economy and culture.”
Anneliese Midgley, Labour MP for Knowsley and Musicians’ Union member, said: “I’ve been inundated with concerns from musicians who are rightly worried about what these proposals could mean for their livelihoods.
“The music industry has long been structured in a way that exploits musicians, and streaming services have already exacerbated this.
“The truth is that household names – artists who had top 10 hits, who were on the cover of all the music magazines – are struggling, while up-and-coming musicians can barely get a foot in the door. Many don’t get paid for years.
Songs are played more than ever, but musicians are seeing less money. Someone is getting paid, but it isn’t the people who create the music.
“Big tech companies should not be able to generate and profit from music without permission or payment.
“I am pleased that Ministers are actively engaging and listening on this matter. As the party of Labour, the Government should ensure that artists, songwriters, and musicians are fairly paid for their work and protected from exploitation by faceless tech companies.”
The outcry over the proposals, which are set to become law via the Data Bill currently making its way through Parliament, has united dozens of the UK’s most eminent cultural and creative figures, including Andrew Lloyd Webber, the James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli, Sir Tom Stoppard, and Sir Simon Rattle.
In a letter to The Times, the leading figures described the Government’s plans as “wholesale giveaway of rights and income from the UK creative sectors to big tech”.
Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, a former special adviser to Rishi Sunak and a trained pianist and composer who also previously headed music industry body UK Music, said the plans amounted to throwing Britain’s creative sector “under the bus”.
He said: “AI has incredible potential – it could transform public services and lead to vital medical breakthroughs. But making the most of these opportunities doesn’t require us to throw our world-leading creative industries under the bus – which is exactly what this policy does.
“Letting tech companies hoover up the Beatles’ back catalogue to train their AI models would not unlock the cure for cancer or revolutionise public services. But it would devastate our creative industries and do irreparable damage to a sector where we are genuinely world-leading.”
A consultation on the plans closed yesterday. The Government is this week expected to remove or block a number of amendments aimed at preserving Britain’s 300-year-old copyright laws as they currently exist after they were passed in the House of Lords.
Baroness Kidron, the film maker and cross-bench peer who introduced the amendments and has vowed to do so anew if they are voted down by the Government, said the plans amounted to Britain giving away its cultural heritage.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, she said: “The Government’s proposal to allow an exemption for data mining to artificial intelligence companies sounds technical but when you consider that the data they are mining is the latest Ed Sheeran song, or the first novel of someone who worked double shifts to support themselves while writing, it brings to life the sheer audacity of the proposal of giving away other people’s property rights.”
The Make It Fair campaign, which yesterday saw national and regional newspaper titles dedicate their entire front pages to the issue alongside the release of a “silent” album by 1,000 musicians, has garnered support abroad.
Bjorn Ulvaeus, the co-founder of ABBA and president of CISAC, an international body representing creators, said AI tools were an inevitable addition to human creativity. He added: “But this progress must never come at the expense of creators’ rights. And this is not just an ethical issue, it’s economic good sense because the whole concept of copyright has immense impact on culture, jobs and the economy. We can’t let that be watered down by poor regulation of AI.”
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