We are backing a bold awareness campaign launched by UK creative industries to highlight how content is at risk of being given away for free to AI firms as the government proposes weakening copyright law.
With a government consultation seeking views on the copyright issue closing today, we have joined publishers, creative businesses and artists in promoting the ‘Make it Fair’ campaign with advertising on our websites.
The campaign was developed to raise awareness among the British public about the existential threat posed to the creative industries from generative AI models, many of which scrape creative content from the internet without permission, acknowledgement, and critically, without payment.
The impact on creative businesses and individuals throughout the country, who collectively generate over £120 billion a year towards the UK economy, will be devastating if this continues unchecked, or worse still if the government legitimises this content theft.
National campaign
On 25 February, which is the last day of the government’s consultation, regional and national daily news brands are running the same cover wrap and homepage takeover.
The campaign cover wrap states: “MAKE IT FAIR: The government wants to change the UK’s laws to favour big tech platforms so they can use British creative content to power their AI models without our permission or payment. Let’s protect the creative industries – it’s only fair.”
Weekly titles will run the campaign throughout the next week, with the aim of appealing to the British public to write to their MPs and back the creative industries.
Launching the campaign today, Owen Meredith, CEO of News Media Association, said: “We already have gold-standard copyright laws in the UK.
“They have underpinned growth and job creation in the creative economy across the UK, supporting some of the world’s greatest creators, artists, authors, journalists, scriptwriters, singers and songwriters to name but a few.
“And for a healthy democratic society, copyright is fundamental to publishers’ ability to invest in trusted quality journalism.
“The only thing which needs affirming is that these laws also apply to AI, and transparency requirements should be introduced to allow creators to understand when their content is being used. Instead, the government proposes to weaken the law and essentially make it legal to steal content.
Financial reward
“There will be no AI innovation without the high-quality content that is the essential fuel for AI models. We’re appealing to the great British public to get behind our ‘Make it Fair’ campaign and call on the government to guarantee creatives are able to secure proper financial reward from AI firms to ensure a sustainable future for both AI and the creative industries.”
The chief executive of Tindle Newspapers Ltd Danny Cammiade is chairman of the News Media Association.
Tindle managing director Scott Wood said: “Democracy in our society rests on robust copyright protections that enable publishers like Tindle to invest confidently in the credible, high-quality journalism which our audiences expect from our community-based editorial teams.
“As an industry we need clear confirmation that existing copyright laws fully extend to AI technologies, alongside transparency measures that give creators visibility into how their work is being used and payment to reflect the usage.
“The government’s current proposals threaten to undermine these protections, allowing the unauthorized exploitation of valuable creative content that powers our information ecosystem.”
Launching a music industry campaign to coincide with ‘Make it Fair’, Ed Newton-Rex, the founder of Fairly Trained, a non-profit that certifies generative AI companies that respect creators’ rights, said: “1,000 UK musicians released a joint album today, recordings of empty studios, calling on the government to change course or risk empty studios becoming the norm.
“The government’s proposals would hand the life’s work of the UK’s talented creators – its musicians, its writers, its artists – to AI companies, for free. The government must change course and make it fair.”