A fierce debate is underway in the British parliament over the use of copyrighted material to train artificial intelligence models. The conflict pits the UK's valuable creative industries against the government and big tech companies, who are at odds over the unrestricted "scraping" of online data to train AI. Creatives and their advocates argue that using their work without permission or payment undermines their fundamental property rights.
Key Points in the Debate:
● Government's Stance: The government is considering an option to essentially give away the property rights of creators in the hope of stimulating national economic growth.
● Economic Value: In 2022, the UK's creative industries generated £126 billion in gross value added to the economy and employed 2.4 million people.
● The "Fair Use" Question: Tech companies like Open AI and Meta often rely on a "fair use" defense for the right to "scrape" online data, a legal standing that is being increasingly challenged.
● A Call for Transparency: A primary issue for copyright holders is the inability to know when their work is being used, which prevents them from protecting their rights.
Baroness Beeban Kidron, who is leading the charge for copyright holders in the House of Lords, states that with the government's preferred option, "the one thing they are absolutely sure of... is that [growth] will not accrue to the creative industries".
The author of the opinion piece, Martin Wolf, concludes that the idea of handing over the creative sector's output for free is "abhorrent". The outcome of this battle over intellectual property will determine the relationship between the AI industry and creators for the foreseeable future.
