Culture committee chair calls out government over conflicting AI and copyright stance

The chair of the Culture, Media, and Sport Select Committee has called for clarity regarding government’s justification for its position on AI and copyright, which includes plans to exempt firms training artificial intelligence from copyright laws.

In a letter from Caroline Dinenage to Peter Kyle, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, the MP for Gosport takes issue with Kyle’s response to her challenge during a Commons debate, in which she questioned the government’s defence of its proposals due to “uncertainty”.

Kyle replied during the debate: “I have not used the word ‘uncertainty’ or implied that the challenge we have is uncertainty.”

In the letter, Dinenage points out that the Ministerial Foreword to the government’s consultation on Copyright and AI, “published in December last year and presented in your name”, clearly states that “legal uncertainty” around the use of copyrighted material is “undermining investment in and adoption of AI technology”.

She further highlights conflicting statements made by the Secretary of State in the Commons regarding the issue.

Dinenage continues: “Given the contrast between your words last week and those made previously to the House and in the consultation, I would be grateful if you could clarify which statements are correct?

“The creative industries have long argued in this debate that copyright law is clear, and it is only unscrupulous AI developers who are pretending otherwise, while they continue to scrape copyrighted data without remuneration for the creators.

“If the government is now accepting this, this is a welcome change of approach.”