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U.K. Data Bill Still Facing Opposition Ahead of Final Vote

By  |  May 1, 2025
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With the U.K. Data Bill scheduled to come to a final vote in Parliament next week, passage of the measure is still not assured. Efforts by the government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer to mollify critics have so far been unavailing, and critics intend to re-introduce amendments to the bill that the government had previously gotten removed.

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    The bill would allow AI companies to use copyrighted works without permission to train generative AI models unless a rights owner affirmatively opts-out. The provision is similar to one enshrined in the European Union’s AI Act and the Starmer government has insisted it is essential to ensuring the U.K. remains technologically competitive with the rest of Europe. The creative industries, as well as several marquee names from the creative fields, have pushed back strongly, however, claiming the free use of their works by tech companies would be devastating to artists’ ability to make a living.

    With the clock ticking toward a vote, the government this week reiterated its commitment to carry out an economic impact assessment of the bill’s proposed changes to U.K. copyright law, and to publish reports on transparency, licensing, and access to data under the measure. But critics dismissed those commitments as inadequate.

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    Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle met with representatives of the music industry this week to try to address their concerns, the Guardian reported Wednesday, but made little apparent headway. British composer and former Stability AI executive Ed Newton-Rex told the Guardian there is a “ton of evidence” that the government’s proposal would be “terrible for creators,” adding, “we don’t need an economic impact assessment to tell us that.”

    Read more: U.K. Government Offers Concessions on Data Bill, But Can’t Quell Opposition

    Kyle also aggravated critics by arguing that, without the changes to copyright, AI companies would locate their operations in countries like Saudi Arabia, beyond the reach of British courts and depriving creators of the means to challenge the use of their work. PM Starmer made a similar argument in meetings this week with other MPs, according to the Guardian. Opponents of the measure, however, accuse the government as bending to pressure by U.S. technology companies and the Trump administration.

    “The question I would ask government is: why it is not protecting UK property rights,” Beeban Lady Kidron said. “Why it is not recognizing the growth potential of UK creative and innovative business, and why it has not heeded UK AI companies who say the government is privileging US and Chinese-based companies at the expense of our own?”

    Kidron previously had successfully added amendments to the bill requiring AI companies to comply with existing U.K. copyright law, only to see them stripped from the measure in the Commons at the behest of No. 10. Liberal Democrat MPs to the Guardian, however, they plan to reintroduce those amendments ahead of the final vote.

    “An economic impact assessment should be the bare minimum creatives can expect,” Lib Dem spokesperson Victoria Collins said. “We’ll be pushing to stop AI copyright law from being watered down in the Commons next week, and urge MPs to stand with us and back British creators.”