UK Government drops proposals to give AI firms right to use copyright material for training unless copyright owners opt-out; now no “preferred way forward”, plans further consultations

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The UK Government has just published its report and impact statement on Copyright and AI, the result of a consultation it launched at the end of 2024.

In a written statement, Liz Kendall, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, said that when it launched the consultation, “the Government’s preferred way forward was to enable AI developers to train on copyright works, but to give rightsholders the ability to opt-out of this regime.”

As she then admits, this approach “was overwhelmingly rejected by the vast majority of the creative industries… This is why we can confirm today that the Government no longer has a preferred option.”

Both the creative sector, which contributes £146bn to the UK economy, and the AI sector, which is the third largest in the world, are “central to the government’s industrial strategy and vital to the UK’s future prosperity.”

The challenge facing not just the UK Government, but governments around the world, is how to balance the needs of both sectors, she says.

“Our approach to copyright will be driven by our shared principles and values. This means protecting the UK’s position as a creative powerhouse while unlocking the extraordinary potential of AI-driven innovation to grow the economy and improve British lives… it will take time to get this right. We will do so in a way that is in line with our own interests and values.”

The statement included three commitments, she adds, which are:

1. We will do what is right for the whole British economy. This includes both our creative industries and the UK AI sector.

2. We will help creatives control how their work is used. This sits at the heart of our ambition for creatives – including independent and smaller creative organisations – to be paid fairly.

3. We will unlock the extraordinary potential of AI-driven innovation to grow the economy, and secure sovereign capability for the UK."

Expanding on this, the Government has identified “four areas where we will focus the next phase of this work.”

The four areas are:

Digital Replicas. ‘Digital replicas’ can be a powerful tool, including for the creative industries. However, when someone’s likeness is replicated without their permission it can be harmful. We will launch a consultation in the summer to seek views on how we address these harms, while protecting legitimate innovation.

Labelling AI-generated content. It can be helpful to consumers to understand whether content has been made using AI. It may also help protect against disinformation and harmful deepfakes. We will establish a taskforce to put forward proposals for government on best practice for labelling AI-generated content, with an interim report to be published in autumn.

Creator control and transparency. We will publish a review of the mechanisms available for creators to control their works online. This will include standards, technical solutions and best practice on input transparency. This review will inform where there are gaps and whether there is an appropriate role for government in addressing them.

Independent creatives. We will launch a working group on independent and smaller creative organisations to explore whether there is a role for government to support their ability to license their content."

So, the next steps are to launch another consultation, a taskforce, a review, and a working group.

However, Kendall was able to confirm some progress towards establishing a Creative Content Exchange (CCE), as set out in the Creative Industries Sector Plan, published in July 2025. She said: “The intention is for the CCE to be a trusted marketplace for digitised cultural and creative assets. The CCE is supported by funding from UKRI and is sponsored by DCMS. A pilot phase has been launched with an early adopter cohort of public institutions.”

The Government’s decision not to go ahead with plans that would have allowed AI companies to assume they had the right to use copyrighted material unless the copyright owner says otherwise have been welcomed by the UK creative industry. 

The BBC reported (Government backtracks on AI and copyright after outcry from major artists): “The UK government has backtracked on its position on copyright and AI, stating it must take time to "get this right". Its original position - allowing AI companies to use copyrighted works to train their models with an opt-out option - received major backlash from the likes of Sir Elton John and Dua Lipa.”

The BBC quoted Mandy Hill, managing director at Cambridge University Press and the president of the Publishers Association, who called the Government’s announcement a major victory "over the self-interest of a handful of large corporations". However, she also expressed concern that the government could still allow tech companies to use copyrighted content to train AI models without a license: "The existing law is clear…Copyright material cannot be used for AI development and training without permission."

The BBC also quoted Antony Walker, deputy chief executive of Tech UK, who argued for a balance to be struck between the two competing sectors: “The UK has set its sights on leading the G7 in AI adoption, but that requires a clear and enabling framework for AI innovation… With international competitors moving ahead, the UK cannot afford for this to remain unresolved."

Equity, the performing arts and entertainment trade union, welcomed the announcement that the Government is to roll back on the ‘opt-out’ exception to copyright for artificial intelligence training, saying it “is recognition that selling out the UK’s creative industries to benefit US tech companies would’ve been an act of national self-sabotage.”

The UK Press Gazette pointed out that the UK’s national newspapers and websites had banded together for a campaign led by the News Media Association, “which saw every UK national newspaper and website give over their front pages to the slogan ‘Make It Fair’.”

The UK Press Gazette also quoted News Media Association chief executive Owen Meredith, who pointed out: “By the same logic, the Government must now swiftly dismiss other exceptions that could be even more harmful, particularly an exception for ‘science and research’ or ‘commercial research’.”