The Communications and Digital Committee of the House of Lords has published the Government’s response to its report on AI, copyright, and the creative industries.

We previously commented on the report here. It painted a stark picture of the challenges facing the creative industries as a result of artificial intelligence, warning that “while generative AI may present opportunities for creative innovation and further growth where appropriate safeguards are in place, it also poses substantial material risks to the work and livelihoods of individual creators. The impact of these is already being felt”.

Five main recommendations to the Government were made in the report:

1. Rule out a new commercial text and data mining (TDM) exception with an opt-out model;
2. Close gaps in the law by introducing protections against unauthorised digital replicas and harmful ‘in the style of’ AI outputs;
3. Establish a clear, mandatory transparency framework for UK AI developers;
4. Create the conditions for a fair and inclusive UK licensing market;
5. Prioritise the development and adoption of sovereign AI models.

Government responses to Committee reports are rarely revelatory, or the place to find major policy announcements. This is no exception, particularly since many of the matters raised by the Committee were touched upon in the Government’s Report on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence, published only days after the Committee’s report (and discussed here).

As a result, much of the response reiterates positions the Government has already adopted, namely that it no longer has a ‘preferred option’ in relation to AI and copyright; that it is keeping approaches to licensing and transparency under review without intervening at this stage; and that it will continue work on the Creative Content Exchange as a marketplace for licensing and enabling access to digitised cultural and creative assets.

In terms of concrete action in the short term, the Government response confirms that four separate strands of work will commence in the coming months:

1. A consultation on digital replicas, seeking views on how to address harms where someone’s likeness is replicated without their permission, will be launched in the summer;
2. A taskforce on AI labelling will be established and put forward an interim report on proposals on best practice for labelling AI-generated content in the autumn;
3. A review will be published on the mechanisms available for creators to control their works online, including standards, technical solutions, and best practice on input transparency for AI model training. According to the Government, this review will help inform whether there are any gaps which it should address;
4. A working group on independent and smaller creative organisations will be launched to explore whether there is a role for the Government to support their ability to license content.

Responding to the Government’s response, the Committee Chair, Baroness Keeley, welcomed confirmation that the Government no longer prefers a broad text and data mining exception with an opt-out mechanism, but reiterated the Committee’s view that ‘best practice’ transparency measures will not be enough, and that “only a mandatory framework will create the level playing field needed to foster responsible training data practices”.

To read the response in full, click here.