Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on UK creative industries of the use of content by artificial intelligence firms without permission or payment.

The government recognises the importance of the UK’s copyright regime to the economic success of the creative industries, one of eight growth-driving sectors as identified in our Industrial Strategy. We are committed to supporting rights holders by ensuring they have control over and receive fair payment for their work, especially as technology advances to include AI. We are actively working with stakeholders to ensure copyright protections remain robust and fit for purpose.

Our 10-week consultation, which was published on Tuesday 17 December and closed on 25 February, engaged AI and creative industries stakeholders widely on the impact of AI on the copyright regime. The aims of the consultation were to seek views on how the copyright framework should apply in the context of AI. Key topics under review include text and data mining, transparency and labelling, computer generated works and digital replicas.

The consultation was published alongside an accompanying options assessment. The consultation sought to gather further evidence on the potential impact on the creative industries of both AI and any change to the copyright regime. We will now consider the full range of responses we have received through our consultation and if legislative changes are needed, a full economic impact assessment will be undertaken.