The proposal would have allowed tech firms like OpenAI, Google, and Meta to train on the published works of creatives unless the copyright holder actively opted out.
“Whilst members are still digesting the details of the consultation, rights holders do not support the new exception to copyright proposed. In fact, rights holders consider that the priority should be to ensure that current copyright laws are respected and enforceable,” CRAC says in a statement. “We welcome proposals for transparency measures which will allow rights holders to understand how their work has been used but these should be implemented to make existing copyright law enforceable, rather than being offered as a ‘trade off’ for the degradation of copyright protections.
“This could significantly disadvantage sectors across our economy, including the creative industries, and sweep the rug from underneath British AI developers,” Bryan says.