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General Election 2024 Manifestos Roundup

What do parties have to say on Copyright, IP, Artificial Intelligence and Freelance Working?

Ahead of the General Election, each party has laid out their plans for the Creative Industries, including policies on Freelancing, Copyright, IP and Artificial Intelligence. DACS' Communications and Engagement Lead, Alistair Small, rounds up the 7 largest parties' manifesto pledges in these key areas.


This week, DACS set out 3 critical policy asks for the next UK Government, including the Smart Fund, a Freelancer Commissioner, and AI regulation that protects the rights of visual artists and creators.

So, what do the UK’s largest parties have to say about these issues?

Freelancing and the future of work

One-third of the cultural sector workforce are freelance workers, rising to 70% of the workforce in the visual arts, vastly exceeding the national average of 16%. Almost all artists are self-employed, or will have multiple sources of income including that from self-employed work as an artist.

Many freelancers have mixed roles, such as artists and curators who are teachers, lecturers and freelance writers, or who have contracted part-time employment either in or outside of the visual arts sector.

Therefore, it is vital that a future government recognises the critical importance of freelance workers to the sector and to the economy as a whole.

What do political parties say about Freelance and Self-Employed work?

Copyright, IP and Artificial Intelligence

DACS calls on the next UK Government to create new collective licensing revenue for artists, writers, performers and directors when their copyright protected works are copied and downloaded on digital devices. The Smart Fund could raise up to £300 million a year for creators, and is endorsed by the Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s Creator Remuneration Report. Many artists rely on royalties to sustain their practices, and it is vital that the UK’s copyright framework continues to support visual artists and wider rightsholders.

DACS also calls on the next UK Government to include visual artists in the regulation of AI, that complies with copyright law and incentivises human creativity. Artists must be able to give consent, have control and be compensated for the use of their works in machine learning and AI training.

What do political parties say about Copyright, IP and Artificial Intelligence?

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