DACS calls for transparency and fair licensing in AI image training at Lords AI & Copyright inquiry
At a recent House of Lords evidence session on AI and copyright, DACS set out what artists need from government and industry as generative AI reshapes the use of images.
Giving evidence to the Communications & Digital Committee, Chaired by Baroness Keeley, DACS’ Head of Policy & International explained that individual artists and creators are often missing out on payment for AI training, even when AI developers enter agreements with publishers or content owners.
DACS’ survey in 2024 demonstrated that 8 in 10 artists would agree to a licence to be fairly paid for AI training. But despite DACS’ efforts to negotiate directly with generative AI image companies to put a bespoke licensing solution in place, there has been a lack of engagement. The ongoing consultation process on copyright and AI for the past four years has undermined rightsholders’ bargaining position and created uncertainty around copyright.
Transparency measures are an essential ingredient to facilitate copyright licensing. Together with fellow panellists Ed Newton-Rex, Chief Executive Officer at Fairly Trained and Serena Dederding, General Counsel and Company Secretary at Copyright Licensing Agency, DACS urged the Committee to support a statutory transparency framework requiring AI developers to disclose what content they use, how it is obtained and how it is used.
If we want to unlock licensing, we need some transparency measures. We need some information in order to know how to license, what we are licensing and what the value of that licence is. The Government can play a role in helping us develop those transparency models. Without this, it is completely disproportionate to creators, who receive no value from AI training uses at the moment.
Head of Policy and International
Finally, while welcoming the new Secretary of State’s promise to “reset” the debate on AI and copyright, DACS warned that artists have so far felt unheard and misunderstood, urging the Government to take one clear step before Christmas: rule out a text and data mining exception for copyright-protected works, following the recent example of Australia.
