DACS champions artists’ rights in Liverpool at the Labour Party Conference
This week, DACS joined the Cultural & Creative Industries Pavilion at the Labour Party Conference, hosted by Creative UK, to make the case for UK visual artists and creators.
Across 3 days, Head of Policy and International Reema Selhi took part in 2 separate sessions where the case was made for fair pay, strong IP protections, and artists’ central role in the UK’s economic growth.
UK Industrial Strategy and growth across sectors
During the panel 'Creative Industries and the UK Industrial Strategy: A Growth Engine Across Sectors', the speakers explored how creativity drives innovation across manufacturing, finance and technology, with panellists including Sarah Rose (Paramount), Professor Christoph Lindner (Royal College of Art), Sophie Wybrew-Bond (Royal Ballet and Opera), David Leigh-Pemberton (British Fashion Council), Lord Richard Harrington (Make UK), Rosie Wrighting MP, and The Rt Hon Ian Murray MP, Minister of State for Creative Industries, Media and Arts. Moderated by Antony Walker (techUK), the panel made the case for embedding creativity at the heart of the UK’s industrial strategy.
AI and creative work
DACS also joined the open roundtable “IP in the Age of Gen AI: Rights, Revenues & Responsibilities,” where the conversation focused on how artificial intelligence is reshaping the creation, sharing and monetisation of creative work. Reema Selhi joined Richard Mollett (RELX), Max Chambers (Premier League), Mandy Hill (Publishers’ Association), Sophie Jones (BPI), independent journalist Carole Cadwalladr, Samantha Niblett MP, and James Frith MP to debate how evolving IP frameworks and ethical licensing can ensure creators’ rights and revenues are protected in the AI era.
The Pavilion, organised by Creative UK, convened over 35 cultural partners and featured contributions from parliamentarians, industry leaders and cultural figures including Armando Iannucci, Carol Vorderman and Secretary of State Lisa Nandy MP.
Through both discussions, DACS championed the rights of visual artists, highlighting the need for fair remuneration for freelancers, strong IP protections in the face of AI, and recognition of artists as essential to a thriving creative economy.
