NUJ urges enforcement of UK copyright law as AI Opportunities Action Plan is published
“The pursuit of innovation and opportunities in AI must not be at the expense of our members” says Laura Davison, NUJ general secretary.
This week, the UK government published its AI Opportunities Action Plan described in part as a roadmap “to capture the opportunities of AI to enhance growth and productivity.”
The plan devised by Matt Clifford makes several recommendations, including for the UK government to “reform the UK text and data mining regime so that it is at least as competitive as the EU.”
The NUJ has called for greater enforcement of UK copyright law, opposing an exception that would permit AI developers access to the copyright-protected works of rightsholders through opt-out mechanisms. We note, that government states in its copyright and artificial intelligence consultation regarding the EU approach, “there is some uncertainty about how it works in practice and some aspects are still being developed.”
NUJ members including freelances working across sectors should not have their works used to train or develop artificial intelligence technologies without consent sought and obtained. The union will respond to government’s consultation including key calls in our AI campaign.
Laura Davison, NUJ general secretary, said:
"Government must focus on enforcing UK copyright law to ensure journalists and rightsholders across the creative sector enjoy protections rightly afforded them. It is disappointing to read of apparent uncertainty around intellectual property in the AI Opportunities Action Plan as supporting the need for the proposed text and data mining exception, when our government should instead be exploring approaches to strengthen the enforcement of our standard.
"Whilst big tech lobbies on their interests encouraging reform, Ministers must demonstrate they remain open to hear the voices of journalists and creators at the heart of this issue. We stress once more, that the pursuit of innovation and opportunities in AI must not be at the expense of our members who risk manoeuvring unworkable approaches to ensure the protection of their works, through an opt-out scheme. Choice and control over how copyright-protected works are used must remain with journalists whose work plays a critical role in our democracy."