Ministers are planning to offer key concessions to their plans to make it easier for artificial intelligence companies to use copyright-protected work, in a partial climbdown after weeks of lobbying from some of the world’s most famous artists.
Sources have told the Guardian that ministers have accepted the need to protect British creative industries from the plans, which would otherwise have made their work available for access by AI companies unless they deliberately opted out.
The proposals have been championed by the technology industry but have also prompted a backlash from some of the creative industry’s leading lights, including Elton John, Damon Albarn and the film director Beeban Kidron. People aware of the discussions say officials are discussing a range of changes to the plans, which would exempt certain sectors from the opt-out system and would give preferential access to British AI companies.
One said: “Ministers would very much like to find something everyone can work with. Abandoning the plans altogether is not seen as an option as it would put British AI companies at a disadvantage, but there are ways to protect certain sectors which are particularly important, and to make sure big US technology giants are not getting all the benefit.”
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology did not respond to a request for comment.
The plan to grant an exemption to UK copyright rules for AI companies looking to train their models was announced earlier this year as part of a cross-government push to boost the British AI industry.
The AI models powering systems such as ChatGPT use vast amounts of data taken from the internet and learn to spot patterns in it. This allows them to produce comprehensible text, plausible images and convincing audio.
It has prompted an angry response from British artists, however, with Paul McCartney saying AI “could just take over”. Elton John, one of Labour’s most prominent backers at the last election, said this weekend the plans would “destroy the UK’s leadership” in the music industry.
More than 1,000 musicians, including Kate Bush, Damon Albarn and Annie Lennox, released a silent album on Tuesday in protest against the plans.
Faced with a concerted backlash from some of the country’s most famous celebrities, officials are looking for ways to offer them extra protections. One could be to allow creative industries to opt in to the new system, while offering AI companies the use of mass media such as journalism for free unless those companies opted out.
Another would be to allow British AI companies to benefit from an opt-out system, while forcing their US counterparts to secure consent before accessing copyrighted material.
Ministers say they are keen to protect British creative producers in their final plans, which will be announced later this year.
Speaking to reporters during a trade mission to Delhi, the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, said creators have “got to be able to earn a decent living … [that is] absolutely something we have to embed for the future”.
He added that ministers had got to get the balance right on copyright and were listening to the concerns of creative industries.
“We absolutely believe the creative industries are essential to the UK in both economic and cultural terms and we want to build on that strength,” he said.
Others, however, are sceptical about any concessions the government could offer without abandoning its plans altogether.
One music industry insider consulted on the proposals said: “Officials have repeatedly promised to offer ‘guardrails’ to protect the creative industries, but they have not said exactly how they would work.
“The idea of tearing up copyright law for some sectors but not for others is frankly a nonsense.”
