AI and copyright – the House of Lords launches a new inquiry. Does this mean the British Government is about to act?

The UK government’s official policy on copyright and the training of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems remains both a frustrating enigma and a source of ongoing anger and disappointment to Britain’s creative communities.

Since election, Sir Keir Starmer’s government has signalled its preference for tearing up copyright protections and opting creatives into their work being used to train models by default. For example, before launching its public consultation on the matter, the government expressed that preference rather than waiting for the consultation to finish, reviewing the data, then reaching a consensus view. This gave the impression that the whole exercise was a whitewash before it even began – one whose findings, incidentally, have yet to be released.

In return for changing the law, AI companies – absolved of historic theft by government decree – would be expected to provide greater transparency on how data is used, while creatives would be allowed ...