In the swirling debate over AI, copyright, and intellectual property rights, the UK government has found itself at the center of a growing controversy. The rapid advancement of AI technologies has raised fundamental questions about who owns creative content and how AI companies should be allowed to use it.

In a significant turn of events, the Data (Use and Access) Bill’s progress through the report stage in the House of Lords took an unexpected turn this past Tuesday 28 January, culminating in another government defeat. Crossbench peer Baroness Kidron tabled a series of amendments designed to provide greater protection for copyright owners against AI scraping, and the Lords voted 145 to 126 in favor of adopting them.

Baroness Kidron said her measures would ‘record when, where and how intellectual property is taken and, crucially, allow creators to understand what has been taken so they can seek redress’.

She added that ‘hundreds of organisations and many individual rights holders are watching… to see what this House will do in the face of a Government proposal that will transfer their hard-earned property to another sector without compensation, and with it their possibility of a creative life, or a creative life for the next generation’. 

The peer went on: ‘The Government are doing this not because the current law does not protect intellectual property rights, nor because they do not understand the devastation it will cause, but because they are hooked on the delusion that the UK’s best interests and economic future align with those of Silicon Valley.’

She said the failure to defend ‘the property rights of citizens and wealth creators is bewildering’.

This marks a crucial moment in the ongoing struggle between the creative industries and big tech firms over the use of copyrighted material to train AI models. Baroness Kidron, backed by the Creative Rights In AI Coalition—which includes major organisations like the Publishers Association, UK Music, and the Motion Picture Association—has argued that the government’s current approach effectively allows AI firms to harvest creative works without compensation or transparency. Her amendments were also backed by Sir Elton John and Paul McCartney.

Despite this setback in the Lords, the government still has the power to overturn the amendments when the bill returns to the Commons, where it holds a majority. However, the depth of opposition within the Lords, cutting across party lines, suggests that intellectual property rights in an AI-driven world will continue to be a major battleground.

How should organisations prepare for upcoming changes? 

For organisations concerned with compliance, this development signals an evolving regulatory landscape. Companies using AI-driven tools should pay close attention to legislative changes, ensuring they respect copyright law and are prepared for potential new requirements around transparency and intellectual property usage. Failure to do so could result in legal risks, reputational damage, and new compliance obligations as the law adapts to the challenges posed by AI.

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