The UK government continues to provide clear guidance on what the screen sector can expect in the future of AI and creative copyright, following the release of the government’s Creative Industry Sector Plan in June and responses to film and high-end television sets conducted by the Culture, Media and Sports Commission, released yesterday.
“We ensure that we are trustworthy and protect human creativity, and unlock new opportunities for innovation in the creative sector and the broader economy,” the Sector Plan states.
“The government wants to support the right to license their work in the digital age, while allowing AI developers to benefit from access to UK creative materials. The right approach here unlocks new opportunities for innovation across the economy.”
It is not clear how we will come up with a plan that will please both the creative industry and the technology, as highlighted by the UK’s General Secretary Ellie Piers guild of writers.
“There are still serious questions about copyright and AI, but this will only be answered when the government sets its position following recent consultations,” Piers said. “It’s important that the rights and rewards of creators are not sacrificed to plead for greater skill.”
The UK Data (Usage and Access) bill, which passed Parliament on June 12, has plagued many creatives. Many in the Senate passed without pushing to better protect creative rights and to prevent tech companies from training AI with copyrighted materials without the consent of the rights holder.
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Sector plans suggest that the government is not in a hurry to promote further legislative protections of creativity.
“The government is analysing responses to consultations on the provision of copyright and AI frameworks and considering all options,” read the sector plan. “The government recognizes the need for this to be appropriate and carefully considered in a way that is considered, measured and made sense to develop future proposals. The government will set out all options under consideration regarding the use of copyright materials for AI training, transparency and technical standards, as well as all options and reports under consideration (published within nine months of receiving the royal ascent).
“This analysis will enable the government’s position to work together with a set of expert groups to bring people from both the AI and creative sectors to the issue of transparency, licensing and other technical standards to take the path forward.”
This attention is reflected in the government’s response to films and in the high-end television inquiry reports. The study called for the government to abandon its preference for data mining exceptions in AI training with rights booking models, and instead asked AI developers to license copyrighted work before they could be used to train AI models.
“The government is currently considering 11,500 responses to the consultation and will provide them in the coming months,” said the initial response this week. “The government recognizes the need for this to be considered, measured and done appropriately and discreetly in a reasonable way, and we hope that measures of transparency will form an important part of future legislative proposals.
The study also recommended that the industry should develop an AI certification scheme for the ethical use of generated AI in films and HETV in consultation with the “AI Sector Champions for the Creative Industry” where the government is to be appointed. To ensure compliance and protect the industry from the irresponsible use of AI tools, the government must require certification of UK-based broadcasters or production that claim tax incentives and national lottery funding.
“The government’s recent copyright and AI consultations have considered labeling generative AI generation among other emerging issues in the field,” the government said.
“We are aware of various industry initiatives that label AI outputs, and as part of our consultation process, we are considering regulatory cases to ensure that labeling of AI outputs occurs consistently, and we will consider this in general.
What is clear is that the UK government is keen on the creative industry’s strong leaning towards technological development.
In the sector plan, the government has “committed to establishing a Creative Content Exchange (CCE) that enables a reliable market as a reliable market to allow for sale, purchase, license, and permissioned access to digitalized cultural and creative assets. This new market will open new revenue streams and enable content owners to commercialize and financialize content owners while providing users of CCE, while providing users of CCE, promoting the development of high-value AI models.”
The government is keen to promote partnerships between creative and tech companies, and in the sector plan it repeats a reference to createch (21 to be precise). “We will leverage the power of creators, entrepreneurs and investors to establish the UK as a global leader in the emerging ‘Createch’ sector,” the plan states, with the Createch company expected to generate £18 billion and 160,000 jobs at GVA.
(TagStoTranslate) Artificial Intelligence (T) UK/Ireland
