Trade bodies warn new data mining copyright exception will have ‘severe negative impact’

Trade bodies including the Publishers Association have warned the government that its decision to introduce a new copyright exception will “seriously undermine the UK’s intellectual property framework”. 

Text and data mining encompasses techniques used for computer-based analysis of large amounts of data, and is often used in AI. The exception, announced in June following a consultation, would allow any entity, based anywhere in the world, to mine copyrighted text and data for free, for commercial use. 

In a letter addressed to secretary of state Kwasi Kwarteng, signatories including Publishers’ Licensing Services, the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers and the Independent Publishers Guild warn “the government’s decision to create a broad copyright exception will seriously undermine the UK’s intellectual property framework, conflict with international law, and... unintentionally provide international rightsholders and non-UK based research organisations with a competitive advantage.”

It continues that the proposed exception would “have a severe negative impact on UK rightsholders” and create an unfairness that benefits those using content for text and data mining.

“The immediate consequences of the exception will be that, without the ability to licence and receive payment for the use of their data and content, certain businesses will have no choice but to exit the UK market or apply paywalls where access to content is currently free,” it says. 

“The UK’s world-leading copyright framework is fundamental to the success of the UK publishing industry, as well as the wider creative economy. It empowers people and businesses from across the country to invest in and create a wealth of different products, from novels to academic journals, from databases to newspapers.”

The Publishers Content Forum, which also includes News Media Association, NLA Media Access, Press Database and Licensing Network and the Professional Publishers Association, appealed to the government to maintain the UK’s status as a world leader in copyright protection and to ensure they “uphold internationally agreed protections afforded to rightsholders” and do not expand exceptions to copyright. 

“The proposed exception would undermine not only the UK’s copyright framework and its publishing industry, but also its reputation abroad as a global leader in copyright,” they argue; they have contacted the government to request a meeting at which they can discuss the proposed change. 

The full letter can be found here.