Asked by: John Whittingdale (Conservative - Maldon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of proposals on the expansion of the text and data mining exception on the financial gains of non-UK based technology companies.
Answered by Jane Hunt
The exception only applies to copying for data mining conducted in the UK. The new exception will make the UK one of the most attractive nations for businesses to carry out data mining, whether basing their whole business here or the part which conducts data mining. An impact assessment will be published alongside the legislation when laid.
This provision supports the National AI Strategy by helping to capture the benefits of AI innovation in the UK and ensure that AI technologies benefit all sectors and regions. This applies to all sizes of firms, whether established, start-up, growing, or even unicorn.
Asked by: John Whittingdale (Conservative - Maldon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the text and data mining exception on levels of growth within the artificial intelligence sector as a percentage.
Answered by Jane Hunt
The new exception will put the UK amongst the leading nations globally who support AI development and wider use of text and data mining. It will make data more accessible, and help unlock the value of data sharing across the economy to drive innovation and growth and support the public good.
An academic study estimates that the effort required from researchers to undertake systematic reviews, an important part of research and innovation, is cut by 75% when using text mining services. An impact assessment will be published alongside the legislation when laid.
Asked by: John Whittingdale (Conservative - Maldon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish a list of instances in the last three years where creative industries have failed to licence their content to artificial intelligence developers.
Answered by Jane Hunt
The Government asked specific questions about impact in the consultation on AI and IP, but very limited quantitative evidence was submitted. However, smaller users such as small businesses and start-ups, as well as many researchers, have indicated that - when seeking to analyse works from multiple sources - licences have been out of reach on the grounds of cost or complexity.
Asked by: John Whittingdale (Conservative - Maldon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the financial impact on the creative industries of his decision to expand the text and data mining exception.
Answered by Jane Hunt
The Government asked specific questions about impact in the consultation on AI and IP, but received very limited quantitative evidence. An impact assessment will be published alongside the legislation when laid. The proposed exception will be targeted to limit negative impacts, and the government welcomes further evidence from rights holders on how to best achieve this.