UK to examine labelling AI content among wider copyright reforms

Britain plans to consider requiring labels on AI-generated content to protect consumers from disinformation and deepfakes, the government said ​on Wednesday, as it outlined other areas of focus to tackle ‌the evolving global challenge.

Technology minister Liz Kendall stressed the need to strike the right balance between protecting the creative industries and allowing the AI sector to innovate, saying in a statement that ​the government would take time to “get this right”.

The next phase of the ​government’s work on copyright and AI would also look at the harms ⁠posed by digital replicas without consent, ways for creators to control their work ​online and support for independent creative organisations, she said.

Regulators worldwide are grappling with legal ​and ethical challenges posed by AI chatbots – whose accessibility to the general public has surged in recent years – that generate new content after being fed popular works by artists.

Louise Popple, a copyright ​expert at law firm Taylor Wessing, noted that the government had not ruled out ​a broad exception that would allow AI developers to train on copyright works.

“That’s a subtle difference ‌of ⁠approach and could be interpreted to mean that everything is still up for grabs” she said. “It feels very much like the hard issues are being kicked down the road by the government.”

In 2024, Britain proposed easing copyright rules to let developers train ​models on lawfully accessed ​material, with creators ⁠able to reserve their rights.

On Wednesday, Kendall said that having engaged with creatives, AI firms, industry bodies, unions and academics, the government had ​concluded it “no longer has a preferred option”.

“We will help creatives ​control how ⁠their work is used. This sits at the heart of our ambition for creatives – including independent and smaller creative organisations – to be paid fairly,” she said.

She reiterated the government’s ⁠commitment to ​AI, saying the sector was growing 23 times ​faster than the rest of the economy in Britain, home to the third biggest AI industry in the ​world after the United States and China.