PA boss slams government response to Lords AI report

The Publishers Association (PA) has criticised the government’s response to a House of Lords report on AI, saying that it has failed to make “any tangible commitments to protect the creative industries against mass copyright infringement”.

The Large Language Models and Generative AI report – published in February 2024 by the House of Lords’ Communications and Digital Committee – called on the government to consider whether current copyright law sufficiently protects copyright holders, whose work is used to develop large language models (LLMs). If not, the report recommended setting out a clear plan to future-proof the legislation.

The report states: “The legalities of this are complex but the principles remain clear. The point of copyright is to reward creators for their efforts, prevent others from using works without permission, and incentivise innovation. The current legal framework is failing to ensure these outcomes occur and the Government has a duty to act. It cannot sit on its hands for the next decade and hope the courts will provide an answer.”

In a letter published today (2nd May), the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Michelle Donelan MP, said the government intends to “look closely at the issues relating to copyright and AI”, while developing an approach “that allows the AI and creative sectors to grow together in partnership”. The full response can be read here. 

Dan Conway, chief executive of the PA, who gave evidence to the inquiry last year, has called the response “deeply disappointing”.

Conway added: “Despite strong calls from the Lords Communications Committee and good faith engagement by the creative industries, we still do not see any tangible commitments to protect the creative industries against mass copyright infringement in this response.

“We echo the Committee’s frustration that this urgent issue has not received the same political attention and heft as other areas of AI development. It is vital for authors, publishers and the creative sector as a whole that [the] government moves to protect creators’ and rights holders’ work and the value of human creativity now. 

“Support for licensing and transparency – which the Publishers Association has advocated for – is welcome but must be accompanied by tangible policy commitments and a timeline for action. AI is developing at immense speed. The government must show leadership and act now, rather than waiting on the courts and foreign jurisdictions to dictate the fate of the UK’s world-leading creative industries.”

Today’s letter follows Donelan’s response to the Regulation of AI White Paper consultation, which outlined the government’s “firmly innovative” approach to AI. Conway welcomed the response, which was published in February, emphasising that the government “must also acknowledge the need for retrospective action and compensation where rights-holders’ work has already been used, together with licensing and attribution, in the future”.

Elsewhere, the European Parliament voted in the EU AI Act in March, which introduced a risk-based approach to AI scrutin – the riskier the effects of an AI system, the more scrutiny it should face, the new legislation dictates.