UK Photographers Reject Government Plan to Allow AI Companies to Train on Their Data

U.K. photographers have rejected a move by the British government that would allow tech companies to train AI tools with their work.

The proposal would have allowed tech firms like OpenAI, Google, and Meta to train on the published works of creatives unless the copyright holder actively opted out.

The U.K.-based Association of Photographers (AOP) joined the Creative Rights in AI Coalition (CRAC) which also includes Getty Images, the Motion Picture Association, the Professional Publishers Association, and a number of other bodies representing different creative industries.

“Whilst members are still digesting the details of the consultation, rights holders do not support the new exception to copyright proposed. In fact, rights holders consider that the priority should be to ensure that current copyright laws are respected and enforceable,” CRAC says in a statement.

“The only way to guarantee creative control and spur a dynamic licensing and generative AI market is for the onus to be on generative AI developers to seek permission and engage with rights holders to agree licences.

“We welcome proposals for transparency measures which will allow rights holders to understand how their work has been used but these should be implemented to make existing copyright law enforceable, rather than being offered as a ‘trade off’ for the degradation of copyright protections.”

The Guardian reports that the coalition of creatives started after Britain’s technology and culture minister Chris Bryant put forward a system that would “improve access to content by AI developers, whilst allowing rights holders to control how their content is used for AI training”.

Bryant argued in parliament that there is a danger international developers will train their models on U.K. content from overseas if the country is to adopt a “regime based on proactive, explicit permission”.

“This could significantly disadvantage sectors across our economy, including the creative industries, and sweep the rug from underneath British AI developers,” Bryan says.

However, creative industries disagree. During a debate in parliament’s upper chamber, the House of Lords, one member says the government’s plan is like asking shopkeepers to “opt out of shoplifters.”

“I struggle to think of another situation where someone protected by law must proactively wrap it around themselves on an individual basis,” says House of Lords member Beeban Kidron.

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.