BRIFFA’s response to the UK government’s consultation on AI and Copyright

As many readers will be aware, the government has recently launched a consultation on proposals to kickstart the UK economy using AI.

This is a contentious issue as AI developers rely on vast amounts of copyright content to train their models and the government feels the current UK copyright system is overly restrictive (which is putting us on the backfoot when compared with other jurisdictions, who we are directly competing with in the AI arms race).

As a result, the government has strongly hinted that they plan to turbo charge the AI sector by introducing an exception to copyright law: this would allow AI developers to use copyright works without permission, unless the rightsholder ‘opts out’.

The implications of this are wide ranging. At present, copyright is an automatic right which arises in any qualifying literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work (a broad definition which includes books, paintings, photographs, songs, computer programmes and films). As copyright is an automatic/free right (unlike other IP rights such as trade marks or patents), many creators rely on it to protect their livelihoods.

Given the nature of clients we represent, we are in favour of any mechanism that supports innovation and we recognise the challenges facing the government in this area. However, this cannot be at the expense of existing rightsholders: for this reason, we are lobbying the government not to weaken the existing copyright regime and to engage with the leading creative industry associations as part of any proposed reform.

Over the past 30 years, we have supported thousands of creative businesses and played a pivotal role in some of the most significant cases in this field. We have represented clients before the UK Intellectual Property Office and the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, all the way up to the High Court and the Supreme Court.

Our expertise positions us uniquely to comment on this issue, and we hope the government will consider our feedback alongside that of other stakeholders in the creative sector. If you would like to discuss any of these issues or would like tailored advice on how the changes to copyright law will affect you or your business, please get in touch with your usual contact or info@briffa.com.

Watch this space!

Tom Synott and Prem Shah