Dr Jo Twist OBE, BPI CEO:
"We look forward to engaging with the detail of the Government’s proposals, and welcome elements to improve transparency, record-keeping and the objective of developing licensing models, but it remains our firm view that an exception to copyright law for AI training with rights reservation would be hugely damaging to our national interest. The music industry has long embraced the opportunity of AI and supports a strong market for licensing. However, we remain to be convinced that a copyright exception would move the AI and creative industries closer to agreeing a functioning licensing model; in fact, we believe it would further disincentivise tech companies from doing so.
Strong copyright is the basis of growth. It enables creative and AI sectors to flourish. A copyright exception would weaken the UK’s copyright system and offer AI companies permission to take – for their own profit, and without authorisation or compensation – the product of UK musicians’ hard work, expertise, and investment. It would amount to a wholly unnecessary subsidy, worth billions of pounds, to overseas tech corporations at the expense of homegrown creators.
Other markets have shown that opt-out schemes introduce more legal uncertainty, are unworkable in practice, and are woefully ineffective in protecting creative work from misuse and theft."