News and insights

DACS joins creative titans and industry leaders to urge the Prime Minister to support UK creativity and economic growth by enforcing copyright law

More than 400 artists, authors, musicians, actors, and creative industry leaders have written to the Prime Minister, urging the Government to support proposals that would protect copyright in the age of AI.

• 12 May 2025

How we’ve been advocating for artists rights this spring

Catch up on our recent public affairs activity, covering copyright and AI, and investment in the visual arts sector ahead of the Comprehensive Spending Review.

• 9 May 2025

An artist's experience of copyright erosion in the digital age

DACS member William Cobbing recounts his experience of copyright infringement on a major social media platform

• 24 April 2025

Leading visual arts organisations publish 4 recommendations to safeguard the UK’s visual arts and artists ahead of the UK Government Spending Review.

A major new report, Framing the Future: The Political Case for Strengthening the Visual Arts Ecosystem, has been launched at the House of Commons

• 24 April 2025

The Story Behind the Archive: Artist Collective Bow Gamelan's Journey to ReCollecting

Bow Gamelan Ensemble received a Recollect bursary - funded by Arts Council England and run by DACS - to preserve and share their archive; here, they share their journey.

• 8 April 2025

Considering creatives, copyright and AI: a new report by DACS, PICSEL and Convocation Research and Design

A new report published today, commissioned by not-for-profit organisations DACS and PICSEL, proposes how the UK government could tackle the ongoing challenges around copyright and generative AI by adopting transparency measures that enable better control and fair pay for artists and rightsholders.

• 8 April 2025

APPG for Visual Arts and Artists holds meeting on strengthening the visual arts sector

The APPG for Visual Arts and Artists held its second meeting of 2025, on supporting investment in the visual arts across the UK

• 1 April 2025

Consultation on copyright: Doing nothing is not an option

Scraping artists’ work is like automating shoplifting, says chair of DACS, Margaret Heffernan. She argues that current copyright law is woefully inadequate in protecting artists’ rights.

• 28 March 2025

Copyright and AI Consultation: DACS' key recommendations

As the copyright and AI consultation closes, and the government considers its response to the thousands of submissions received, we outline our key recommendations and how we see the route forward.

• 20 March 2025

DACS CEO Christian Zimmermann shares AI and copyright expertise at International Authors Forum AGM 2025

Christian Zimmerman speaks at the 2025 International Authors Forum

• 18 March 2025

DACS joins rightsholders from across the creative industries for meeting with Secretary of State for Science Innovation and Technology.

This week DACS joined a meeting called by James Frith MP to discuss a route forward from the copyright and AI consultation, that respects the control and remuneration of rightsholders.

• 14 March 2025

Capturing change: artist Dave Lewis on photography, memory, and why licensing matters

As part of our Image in Focus series, Dave Lewis reflects on how photography can capture overlooked histories and the importance of licensing to artists.

• 5 March 2025