The UK’s creative industries have launched a new campaign, ‘Make It Fair,’ to challenge global tech AI firms that are using their content without consent or compensation. Campaign organizers are expressing considerable concern that widespread content scraping poses an “existential threat” to the arts, as AI models are reportedly extracting creative work like art, writing, and music from the internet without permission or payment.
The campaign is a response to a recent government consultation. The outcome of this consultation will determine whether tech companies might be allowed to use content by default, unless creators explicitly take action to prevent it. This affects a wide range of professionals, including artists, authors, journalists, illustrators, photographers, filmmakers, scriptwriters, singers, and songwriters. These creators are now facing the prospect of having to police their work to prevent unauthorized usage.
The ‘Make It Fair’ campaign urgently warns that if the government takes actions that legitimize the unrestricted use of content by AI, the economic impact will be devastating to an industry that currently contributes £120 billion annually to the UK economy. The campaign’s message, which will be featured across numerous media outlets throughout the week, is: “The government wants to change the UK’s laws to favor big tech platforms so they can use British creative content to power their AI models without our permission or payment. Let’s protect the creative industries – it’s only fair.”
Owen Meredith, CEO of the News Media Association, launched the campaign, stating: “We already have gold-standard copyright laws in the UK. They have underpinned growth and job creation in the creative economy across the UK – supporting some of the world’s greatest creators – artists, authors, journalists, scriptwriters, singers and songwriters to name but a few. And for a healthy democratic society, copyright is fundamental to publishers’ ability to invest in trusted quality journalism. The only thing which needs affirming is that these laws also apply to AI, and transparency requirements should be introduced to allow creators to understand when their content is being used. Instead, the government proposes to weaken the law and essentially make it legal to steal content. There will be no AI innovation without the high-quality content that is the essential fuel for AI models. We’re appealing to the great British public to get behind our ‘Make It Fair’ campaign and call on the government to guarantee creatives are able to secure proper financial reward from AI firms to ensure a sustainable future for both AI and the creative industries.”
In a parallel campaign within the music industry, choral composer Ed Newton-Rex, founder of Fairly Trained, which certifies generative AI companies that respect creators’ rights through their training data practices, added to the discussion. He noted, “One thousand UK musicians released a joint album today, recordings of empty studios, calling on the government to change course or risk empty studios becoming the norm. The government’s proposals would hand the life’s work of the UK’s talented creators – its musicians, its writers, its artists – to AI companies, for free. The government must change course and make it fair.”
