The peer and film director leading the campaign to thwart Government plans to give AI giants free access to British-made content has accused ministers of sacrificing working-class jobs in the creative industries.
Baroness Beeban Kidron, a crossbench peer whose films include Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason, said the Government’s proposals to modify copyright laws to encourage artificial intelligence developers to set up shop in Britain would effectively give away the work of writers and artists.
Under its blueprint to harness generative AI to spur economic growth, ministers are proposing to allow tech companies to train their AI models using UK content – from music and film to news media – without permission unless the owner of the copyright “opts out” of the proposed system.
The plans have sparked anger across the UK’s £126bn creative industries sector, which employs 2.4 million people in the UK, and figures including Kate Bush and Michael Morpurgo have signalled their opposition to a move which critics argue will undermine a key part of the economy.
The i Paper is backing the Make It Fair campaign to maintain existing copyright laws which give creators control over their own work.
Baroness Kidron said that while ministers were only too happy to mingle with A-list stars, they were riding roughshod over the livelihoods of thousands of others who work in the background of sectors such as the film, television or music industries.
She told The i Paper: “It is not for the Government to give their work away. Government may like to hob-nob with stars, but the bulk of the industry are carpenters, electricians, studio hands, engineers – they all depend on the flow of funds that keeps the creative ecosystems working.
“It seems the Government is unaware of how the creative industries operate; it is mainly working people, 70 per cent based outside London, and largely working class.”
The peer, who has worked in Hollywood and Europe, spearheaded several amendments in the House of Lords to the Data Bill which the Government is using as a vehicle for its proposed changes.
The amendments, which are likely to be overturned by the Government when the legislation returns to the House of Commons, make AI companies subject to existing UK copyright law wherever they are based and also impose a duty of transparency so copyright holders are informed about when, where and how their work is used by AI models.
The Government has insisted that the current copyright regime is “holding back” both the creative and AI sectors, and “that cannot continue”.
However, it also says it has not yet made any final decisions on changes after a consultation on its blueprint ended this week, amid anger at the proposals from a number of Labour MPs.
Creative industries employ around 2.4 million people in the UK, according to government figures.
More than a quarter (28 per cent) of jobs in the creative industries are self-employed roles, double the figure across the UK as a whole.
IT and software jobs are the biggest source of employment in the creative industries, with roles breaking down as follows:
Baroness Kidron said she was not comfortable with suggestions that the Government may offer to compromise on its proposals by offering an “opt-in” to some creative sectors, under which they would have an automatic right have their copyright recognised and charge a licence fee, while others industries such as the news media would remain under the “opt-out” system.
She said: “The creative community is quite clear that copyright is attached to the creative work, so it is not for government to decide whose copyright is important or not. That is the beauty of the current system.”
The peer added that she would like to see an emphasis on helping Britain’s own AI sectors and is keen to see creatives continue to be able to put their work into universal access schemes such as creative commons but the principle of copyright holders deciding the use of their work needed to remain sacrosanct.
She said: “We should be growing UK AI firms, [and] SME’s on an equitable basis, rather than channelling data and funds to Silicon Valley.”
As ministers come under growing pressure to rethink the controversial changes to copyright laws, the Technology Secretary has said he will “not have one side forcing me to make a choice between one and other”.
Peter Kyle said he was “really open minded about how we move forward”, and wanted to support both the AI sector and creative industries.
The Office of National Statistics analysed the jobs of 20 million people in England in 2019 to assess their risk of automation.
The results found the average risk for jobs in the UK was 7 per cent, but a number of roles linked to media production and highlighted by Baroness Kidron were likely to be at far higher risk from technological advances.
Mr Kyle said that AI is “technology which needs enormous amounts of data in order to be effective and efficient”, but that he needs “to make sure that those people who do feel strongly about it do have the right to opt out, make sure that their material isn’t included in the harvesting”.
He added: “I’m really open minded about how we move forward, but there’s one principle I have: I will not have one side forcing me to make a choice between one or the other”.
“We have two fantastic, talented, wealth-creating industries: the creative industries and the AI technology industry. We need to find a way forward.
“As a Government, we’re really responding well to the challenge, but it’s going to be a very tricky issue. Lots of people have very strong views, but as I said before, I will not be forced to make a choice between one or the other. We will find a way forward, because Britain needs us to.”
A government spokesperson said: “As it stands, the UK’s current regime for copyright and AI is holding back the creative industries, media and AI sector from realising their full potential — and that cannot continue.
“That’s why we have been consulting on a new approach that protects the interests of both AI developers and right holders and delivers a solution which allows both to thrive.”
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