Starmer rejects fresh attempt to protect artists against AI
Sir Keir Starmer has rejected a third attempt by the House of Lords to introduce protections against AI for the creative industries, sparking fury from campaigners.
The Government instructed Labour MPs to vote against an amendment to its Data (Use and Access) Bill on Tuesday, despite pleas from musicians, artists and authors to do more to protect them.
Ministers have said they will not support an amendment by Baroness Kidron, a crossbench peer and filmmaker, which would require AI companies to inform creatives if their work was used to train machines to produce content.
Her campaign has been backed by more than 400 industry figures, including Sir Elton John, Robbie Williams and Dame Shirley Bassey, alongside groups representing a variety of creative arts.
On Wednesday, Sir Chris Bryant, a culture minister, said the Government would not support a requirement in Baroness Kidron's amendment that would have forced ministers to act within three months to introduce copyright protections.
Sir Chris said the amendment would 'bind the hands' of a future parliament and could 'delay' action to protect creatives, 'rather than speed things up'.
But Dame Caroline Dinenage, the chairman of the culture, media and sport committee, accused him of 'dancing on the head of the pin' and making excuses for not protecting the arts.
It is highly unusual for the House of Lords to vote for an amendment to be sent to the Commons for a third time, when it has already been rejected by the Government twice.
The parliamentary row over AI is one of the strongest rebellions from peers in recent years, but ministers have been reluctant to introduce stricter rules that might stop the development of AI in Britain.
Sir Nick Clegg, the former president of global affairs at Meta, has said Baroness Kidron's plan would 'kill the AI industry in this country'.
But artists and creatives have accused the Government of letting AI companies get away with 'theft' of their content by training models to reproduce it for free.
They have argued AI is an 'existential' issue for the creative arts and media, and called on ministers to do more.
Reacting to the latest block by ministers, Anna Ganley, chief executive of the Society of Authors, said: 'That the Government has been forced to reject the Kidron amendment for a third time underlines the strength of feeling around this issue across all political parties.
'It also confirms that this Government is apparently happy for writers, illustrators, translators, and other creators to have their work unlawfully exploited by AI companies, without permission or payment.'
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