Keir Starmer is facing a potential rebellion over his plan to exempt AI firms from copyright law – with MPs urging the Government to think again.
The Prime Minister wants to give Big Tech free rein to train AI systems on copyright material, forcing writers, musicians, artists and filmmakers to ‘opt out’ if they want to protect their work.
But members of Parliament’s culture committee – the majority of whom are Labour MPs – this week advised the Government to abandon the scheme, saying it would ‘undermine’ the creative industries and damage the UK’s reputation.
They wrote: ‘Our world-class creatives are the lifeblood of the UK’s film and TV sectors.
‘However, the rapid growth of generative AI technologies threatens their earnings and future employment opportunities.
‘This is not just an issue for one part of the industry: it is about real lives and livelihoods, and the impact will be felt by the most vulnerable.
‘The Government should abandon its preference for a data-mining exception for AI training with rights reservation model, and instead require AI developers to license any copyrighted works before using them to train their AI models.’
The committee members suggested getting the balance between AI development and copyright wrong will ‘undermine the growth of our film and TV sectors, and wider creative industries’.
The Mail is leading a campaign to halt Sir Keir’s proposal and protect creators from the threat of AI.
Some have told how their work was devoured by AI ‘scrapers’, allowing the system to regurgitate unlicensed versions of their books, artwork and songs.
Baroness Beeban Kidron, who has introduced a series of amendments to the Data (Use and Access) Bill to protect creators, said the Government should ‘put the UK first’.
She said: ‘It seems crazy that right now, when we see the insecurity created by over-dependence on the US, the Labour Government would give away the work and revenue of the UK’s creative sector.
‘It would impact 2.4 million people and they are doing it because they are in thrall to a handful of US companies. It is time for them to put the UK first.’