Latest news with #creativeindustries
The Independent
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Harry and Meghan's wedding singers perform for King at culture festival
The King was entertained by the singers who performed at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's 2018 wedding as he toured a festival. Charles heard the Kingdom Choir when he arrived at South by SouthWest London (SXSW London), a culture, technology and creativity festival in Shoreditch, east London. The event aims to showcase the future of the creative industries, supporting emerging artists and innovative projects and featuring a number of discussions, exhibitions and networking events. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner was among the dignitaries who greeted the King, after she had spoken earlier at the festival about sustainable communities, and among the line-up was London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan. SXSW London has delegates attending from 56 countries including the Commonwealth, with representatives from the UK, Australia, Canada, Cyprus, India, Kenya, New Zealand and Nigeria. Speakers during the six-day festival have included former prime ministers Sir Tony Blair and Lord David Cameron, Sir Sadiq and actor Idris Elba addressing delegates on a range of issues from AI to healthcare and creativity in communities.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
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.'
Telegraph
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Alex Mahon
The point of Channel 4? We're building the future of British TV Unlike global streaming platforms, our long-term duty is to the betterment of UK culture and creative industries Alex Mahon
The Independent
22-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Proposals to protect creatives' copyright from AI are rejected by MPs
Proposals to protect the creative industries against artificial intelligence (AI) have been rejected by MPs, after Parliament heard both sectors need to succeed to grow Britain's economy. Technology Secretary Peter Kyle pledged to set up a series of expert working groups to find a 'workable way forward' for both industries, as he urged MPs to reject the Lords' amendment. Peers attempted to amend the Data (Use and Access) Bill by adding a commitment to introduce transparency requirements, aiming to ensure copyright holders are able to see when their work has been used and by who. MPs voted 195 to 124, majority 71 to disagree with Baroness Beeban Kidron's transparency amendment, in a bid to end the so-called ping-pong. Speaking in the Commons, Mr Kyle said: 'Pitting one against the other is unnecessarily divisive and damages both.' 'The truth is that growing Britain's economy needs both sectors to succeed and to prosper. Britain has to be the place where the creative industries, and every bit as much as AI companies, can invest, grow, are confident in their future prosperity, that is assured. 'We have to become a country where our people can enjoy the benefits and the opportunities of both.' He added: 'It is time to tone down the unnecessary rhetoric and, instead, recognise that the country needs to strike a balance between content and creativity, transparency and training, and recognition and reward. 'That can't be done by well-meaning, but ultimately imperfect, amendments to a Bill that was never intended to do such a thing. 'The issue of AI copyright needs properly considered and enforceable legislation, drafted with the inclusion, the involvement, and the experience of both creatives and technologists. 'To that end, I can tell the House that I am now setting up a series of expert working groups to bring together people from both sectors, on transparency, on licensing and other technical standards to chart a workable way forward.' Intervening, Labour MP James Naish said many of his constituents in Rushcliffe feel 'AI development has already trampled over their rights', adding: 'This is a time-limited issue and action is required.' Mr Kyle said it is 'the truth that so much content has already been used and subsumed by AI models, usually from other territories and also under the current law'. Chairwoman of the culture, media and sport committee, Dame Caroline Dinenage, said: 'What rights holders need is what this amendment says: clear, relevant, accurate and accessible information about the use of their copyright works and the means by which they're assessed. 'That's exactly what it says here, a legislative vehicle in the future, however welcome, is going to be simply too late to protect the livelihoods of so many of the UK's 2.5 million creative workers.' The Conservative MP for Gosport added: 'Is the Government really committed to proactively enforcing our copyright and, if not through this Bill and now, how and when?' Mr Kyle replied: 'We need to make sure that we can have a domestic legal system that is fit for the digital age.' He added that he wanted to 'give the certainty in words, but also, most importantly, to give the certainty in legislation … in the most rapid fashion possible, so that creatives and the AI sector can move forward together'. Conservative MP Joe Robertson (Isle of Wight East) said: 'He talks about delivering certainty, but does he not see that the certainty he is giving is to large, multinational tech companies to get away with scraping original content that is copyrighted. 'But he is going to give them the certainty through this Bill to abuse the rights of creatives.' Mr Kyle replied: 'I am confused by his intervention. The Bill before us does not mention AI, it does not mention copyright, it has nothing to do with any of those items.' SNP MP Pete Wishart (Perth and Kinross-shire) accused the Government of offering creators 'nothing', adding: 'I've looked at this amendment the Lords presented, it seems a reasonable amendment, what is wrong with it as a way forward?' Mr Kyle said: 'It is my belief, and it is this Government's belief, that there is a better way forward to give the protections that creative sectors and creators need, and that will deliver them the certainties, protections and the ability to see transparency.' 'We need to take these issues in the round, not one part of it,' he added. Mr Kyle continued: 'Much of the creative content on the internet has already been scraped elsewhere in the world. We cannot turn back time nor should we kid ourselves that we can exercise extraterritorial reach that we simply do not have. 'My determination is to get this absolutely right, not just rush it right now to make ourselves feel better but make no real improvements to the status quo. So let me be absolutely clear to the House – I get it and I will get it right.' Shadow technology minister Ben Spencer said he welcomed the 'huge benefits' which the Bill would have on the economy and public services, but added: 'I fear this Bill will go down in the Government's record as the Bill of missed opportunities. 'A missed opportunity to fix our flawed public datasets which present a barrier to tracking and tackling inequalities in areas such as women's health; a missed opportunity to commit to a review of protections for children and their use of social media platforms; and to commit to taking action to increase those protections where the evidence show's there's good reason. 'And a missed opportunity to provide much needed certainty to two of our key growth industries: the creative and AI sectors; over how they can interact to promote their mutual growth and flourishing.'
Telegraph
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Labour defeated for third time over AI plans that threaten creative industries
The Government has been defeated for a third time over AI plans which threaten the creative industries. Peers have joined artists and musicians, including Sir Elton John and Sir Paul McCartney, in opposition to allowing AI companies to use copyrighted work without permission. The House of Lords supported by 287 votes to 118 an amendment to the Data (Use and Access) Bill, adding a commitment to introduce transparency requirements, aiming to ensure copyright holders are able to see when their work has been used and by who. Among the 287 to vote in favour of her amendment on Monday were 18 Labour peers, including former Labour deputy leader Lord Watson of Wyre Forest. The Government has said it will address copyright issues as a whole after the more than 11,500 responses to its consultation on the impact of AI have been reviewed, rather than in what it has branded 'piecemeal' legislation. Sir Elton has said he felt 'incredibly betrayed' after the Government resisted changes to the Bill last week. He told the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme: 'It's criminal, in that I feel incredibly betrayed. 'The House of Lords did a vote, and it was more than two to one in our favour, the Government just looked at it as if to say, 'hmmm, well the old people... like me can afford it.' Lord Black of Brentwood, the deputy chairman of the Telegraph Media Group, has called for ministers to do more to protect creatives from AI 'theft'. 'For AI businesses to flourish here, they need access to our world-class content, which will only be produced if content creators have effective copyright protection,' he said. 'This House recognised that on Monday during the passage of the Data Bill and it's deeply disappointing to learn that, rather than act decisively to give creators transparency as we voted for [...] the Government is manipulating parliamentary procedure arrogantly to dismiss our views. 'Is it really now the Government's extraordinary position that if it costs money to enforce the law we must just let criminals get away with theft? Crossbench peer Baroness Kidron, who tabled the amendment, rounded on the Government. She said: 'The Government have got it wrong. They have been turned by the sweet whisperings of Silicon Valley, who have stolen – and continue to steal every day we take no action – the UK's extraordinary, beautiful and valuable creative output. 'Silicon Valley have persuaded the Government that it is easier for them to redefine theft than make them pay for what they stole. 'If the Government continues on its current intransigent path, we will begin to see the corrosion of our powerful industry, fundamental to country and democracy. It will be a tragedy and it's entirely avoidable.' The online safety campaigner explained that her new amendment accepts that the Government's consultation and report will be the mechanism by which transparency measures will be introduced, and gives the Government free rein on enforcement procedures. However, it does require the Government to ensure clear, relevant and accessible information be provided to copyright holders so they can identify the use of their copyrighted work, and that legislation to be brought forward within six months of the Government's report being published, 18 months from the Bill's passing. 'Political gesture' Lady Kidron told peers: 'If the Government is not willing to accept a time-limited outcome of its own report, we must ask again if the report is simply a political gesture to push tackling widespread theft of UK copyright into the long grass. 'Because failing to accept a timeline in the real world means starving UK industries of the transparency they need to survive.' She insisted that UK copyright law as it stands is unenforceable, because 'what you can't see you can't enforce', and that without her amendment it will be years before the issue is legislated on, by which time the creative industry will be 'in tatters'. Responding, technology minister Baroness Jones of Whitchurch insisted that transparency 'cannot be considered in isolation' and that the issue of copyright is 'too important a topic to rush'. She said: 'Alongside transparency, we must also consider licensing, the remuneration of rights holders, and the role of technical solutions and any other number of issues relating to copyright and AI. 'This is why we consulted on all of these topics. We must also keep in mind that any solution adopted by the UK must reflect the global nature of copyright, the creative sector and AI development. We cannot ring-fence the UK away from the rest of the world.' She added: 'This is a policy decision with many moving parts. Jumping the gun on one issue will hamstring us in reaching the best outcome on all the others. 'We are all on the same side here. We all want to see a way forward that protects our creative industries while supporting everyone in the UK to develop and benefit from AI. 'This isn't about Silicon Valley, it's about finding a solution for the UK creative and AI tech sectors. We have to find a solution that protects both sectors.'
