Government defeated over copyright protections against AI models

The Government has suffered a heavy defeat over protections for the arts against artificial intelligence (AI), as a film director warned technology companies are plundering the UK’s cultural back catalogue to develop their products.

Baroness Beeban Kidron, who directed the second film in the Bridget Jones series, put forward an amendment that would ensure copyright holders would have to give permission over whether their work was used, and in turn, see what aspects had been taken, by who and when.

The crossbench peer said the Data (Use and Access) Bill provided an opportunity to ensure those in the music, film, television and other creative industries were properly credited and paid, if they agreed that their work could be used.

Lady Kidron said creatives risked unwittingly providing materials to train generative AI models without payment. Those models could then end up creating their own material, and undercutting human musicians, authors, actors, filmmakers and other creatives.

She denied the accusation from Technology Secretary Peter Kyle, who watched from the sidelines, that creatives were trying to stymie change.

It comes days after a joint letter to Sir Keir Starmer signed by hundreds of people in the creative industries, including Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ian McKellen, urged the Prime Minister to introduce safeguards against work being plundered for free.

She said: “Creators do not deny the creative and economic value of AI. But we do deny the assertion that we should have to build AI for free, with our work, and then rent it back from those who stole it.”

She added: “We need the amendment in front of us today now, because if this Bill does not protect copyright by the time they work out their policy there will be little to save.

“My lords, the language of AI, scraping, training, data, modules, LLMs (large language models), does not evoke the full picture of what is being done. AI corporations, many of which are seeking to entrench their existing information monopolies, are not stealing nameless data. They are stealing some of the UK’s most valuable cultural and economic assets.

“It’s Harry Potter, it’s the entire back catalogue of every single music publisher in the UK. It’s the voice of Hugh Grant, the design of an iconic handbag, the IP of our universities, great museums and library collections. Even the news is stolen in real time. All without payment, with economic benefits being taken offshore.

“It costs UK corporations and individuals their hard-earned wealth, and the Treasury much needed revenue.”

The amendment passed by 272 votes to 125, a majority of 147.

Former BBC children’s TV presenter Baroness Floella Benjamin, who fronted Play School and Hullabaloo, said she feared the reach of AI into programming for youngsters.

The Liberal Democrat peer said the UK was at a “fascinating and unsettling crossroads”.

Lady Benjamin said: “Our ability to connect with an audience on an emotional level, to bring authenticity and vulnerability to a role remains a uniquely human attribute. Thousands and thousands of people tell me I did just that when they watched me almost 50 years ago on Play School.

“It had a lasting emotional effect on them, right through to their adulthood.”

Speaking in support of Lady Kidron’s amendment, she added: “It terrifies me to think that future generations of children may never experience a human being connecting with them, with their souls, either on screen or on stage, or inspire them to pursue a career in the creative industry. No Government should have that on their conscience.”

Sir Elton John was among stars who signed a joint letter to Sir Keir Starmer (PA). PA Media

Conservative peer Baron Black of Brentwood, who sits as deputy chairman of Telegraph Media Group, warned of the impact on news organisations.

Lord Black said: “The provision of independent, verified and regulated news will be among the very first victims of AI if this amendment is not cast and we act very soon.

“I do not say this lightly, my Lords, and having spent almost my whole career in the media I am choosing my words very carefully. But I have to give the House this warning. AI has the capacity utterly to destroy independent news organisations, because it feasts off millions of articles written by journalists without any attribution or payment, destroying the business model that makes the free press possible.

“Without action this day, news will die in the cold darkness of cyberspace where no legal framework exists.”

Labour technology minister Baroness Jones of Whitchurch said: “It’s the Government’s view and moreover it’s morally right that creators can license and be paid for the use of their content. The Government has always been clear that we want to see more licensing by the AI sector.”

She said the proposed mechanism to identify individual works that had been used could be unworkable as the technology would not support it. She said it could also create large obligations on AI companies.

She said: “The scale of their impact on those businesses is unknown. But without a proper impact assessment there is a real risk that the obligations could lead to AI innovators, including many home-grown British companies, thinking twice about whether they wish to develop and provide their services in the UK.”

A Department for Science, Innovation and Technology spokesperson said: “The Data (Use and Access) Bill is focused on unlocking the secure and effective use of data for the public interest – boosting the economy by an estimated £10 billion over the course of the next 10 years to help deliver the growth which is fundamental to the government’s plan for change.

“We want our creative industries and AI companies to flourish, which is why we have been separately consulting on a package of measures that we hope will work for both sectors. We have always been clear that we will not rush into any decisions or bring forward any legislation until we are confident that we have a practical plan which delivers on each of our objectives.”