UK Data Bill (Finally) Passes, But Battle Over Copyright and AI Transparency Could Continue

The amendment, proposed by Baroness Beeban Kidron, was opposed by the government, which managed to get it stripped from bill in the House of Commons on four previous occasions only to see it reinserted by the peers. On Wednesday, Kidron and the amendment’s backers agreed to withdraw the amendment and accept the Commons version of the bill, which will become law following royal consent.

“This Bill is about using data to grow the economy and improve people’s lives, from health to infrastructure and we can now get on with the job of doing that,” a Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) spokesperson said in a statement reported by the BBC. “So this is good news for [National Health Service] workers and the police who will be freed from over a million hours of time spent doing admin, bereaved parents who will be supported to get the answers they deserve, and people who will be kept safer online thanks to new offences for deepfake abuse.”

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The fight over data transparency may not be over, however. The Data Bill has drawn vocal criticism from prominent members of the British creative industries over a provision that allows AI developers to use copyrighted material in training without permission or payment, while providing rights holders with the right to opt-out of having their works included. The Kidron amendment was intended to enable rights owners to identify whether their works are in fact being used in training so as to opt-out if they choose.

In an effort to mollify those critics, the government has promised to address the copyright and AI questions, including data transparency, in a separate bill later this year. That time line could now get delayed by a year or more, however. Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said last week the government now favors rolling the copyright issue into a “comprehensive” AI bill to be introduced in the next Parliamentary session, the Guardian reported.

The Starmer government had planned to introduce a standalone AI regulation bill shortly after taking office. That bill would require AI companies to submit their models to the U.K. AI Security Institute to determine whether they posed a threat to humanity. It delayed that bill in February, however, in order to align the U.K.’s AI policy more closely with the U.S. The Trump administration has made clear to other government’s that it strongly opposes restrictive regulations on AI companies or technology.

Per the Guardian, supporters of the creative industries now fear that combining that bill with the copyright bill into a comprehensive package could delay completion of the measure until after the next King’s Speech to Parliament, tentatively scheduled for May 2026, pushing resolution of the copyright issue deep into next year.

They also worry that an effort to maintain alignment with the Trump administration could lead to a watering down of a transparency requirement or other protections for creators and rights holders.