Publishers Association welcomes manifesto commitments on AI and creativity

The Publishers Association has said that it welcomes support for the book sector from the manifestos published by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, with PA c.e.o. Dan Conway pointing to protections for creators from the use of their work in artificial intelligence, as well as funding for creativity in schools. There are also pledges around freedom of speech and libraries, but CILIP, the library and information association, has warned over the sell off of "valuable community assets such as libraries".

The Liberal Democrats have pledged to protect arts funding as part of the National Lottery, criticising the Conservatives for downgrading arts education in schools. The party has also said it would establish creative enterprise zones to grow and regenerate the cultural output of areas across the UK, and pass a comprehensive "Anti-SLAPP Law" to provide robust protection for free speech.

The Conservative Party said it would ensure creators were properly protected and remunerated for their work, while also making the most of the opportunities of AI and its applications for creativity in the future, adding that it too was a strong defender of freedom of speech and freedom of the press. It also said it would extend its Community Ownership Fund to help more communities across the UK take control of vital community assets like pubs, music venues, libraries, green spaces, leisure centres and more.

Conway said: "It is good to see policies that would benefit publishing announced in the manifestos published so far, as we called for in our Vision for Publishing. In the Conservative manifesto, we particularly welcome the pledge to ensure creators are properly protected and remunerated for their work when used in AI.

"Across the Liberal Democrat and Conservative manifestos, we also support the commitment to greater research and development funding — to back our world-leading research sector — and support for creativity in schools and creative enterprise zones from the Liberal Democrats.

“The UK publishing industry is worth £11 billion and contributes to the UK’s health, wellbeing and success. We hope to see more commitments backing this world-leading sector in the coming days."

The Publishers Association’s Vision for Publishing sets out the sector’s 10 asks of government, from protecting copyright to ensuring every child has access to books. The vision has been the cornerstone of the PA’s engagement with politicians this year. As covered in The Bookseller, it shows that UK publishing is worth £11bn to the UK economy, supports 84,000 jobs and has the potential to grow by £5.6bn in the next decade.

The PA has called on a new government to respect the UK’s copyright framework, which gives creators the ability to create and rights-holders the incentive to invest, by ensuring AI developers respect intellectual property (IP) law. The PA also wants the incoming government to work with the sector to ensure every child has access to books and reading.

CILIP said: "Although we welcome today’s Conservative Party Manifesto focus on leveraging in philanthropic funding for museums and libraries, this has to be on top of sustainable, long-term public funding. Only by investing in professionally-run library services can society achieve its potential to support economic growth, lifelong learning and other public policy aims. The proposal to sell off valuable community assets such as libraries  to be run by volunteers is short-sighted, and again limits the positive long-term outcomes that libraries offer."

The Labour Party manifesto will be published on Thursday.