Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Whittingdale and Lisa Nandy

Thursday 28th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Lisa Nandy]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising an issue that is so important to fans throughout the country. The Government, including my right hon. Friend the Business Secretary, have acted decisively in announcing a consultation in order to consider how best to put fans back at the heart of ticketing, not whether to do it. We will say more about this imminently.

[Sir John Whittingdale (Maldon) (Con)]

T7. May I commend the report from the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee, entitled “The future of news”? It highlights the threat from the unauthorised use of news content to train AI models. Will the Secretary of State consider, as a matter of urgency, strengthening the legislation in this area, and consider the introduction of a licensing scheme, as the report recommends?

[Lisa Nandy]

I know that this matter is of huge concern not just to the right hon. Gentleman but to the Chair of the Select Committee, the hon. Member for Gosport (Dame Caroline Dinenage), and to many other Members. As he knows, the Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism has responsibilities in both this Department and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and has taken a keen interest in the issue. We have read the report and are considering its recommendations, and I will shortly be in a position to update the right hon. Gentleman on the action that the Government intend to take.

Film Industry

Debate between John Whittingdale and Lisa Nandy

Wednesday 9th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Lisa Nandy]

I thank my hon. Friend for his role in helping to fly the flag for the British film industry. I also join him in paying tribute to the work of the BFI, and particularly to Ben Roberts and Harriet Finney, who have done extraordinary work for the film industry and for our country. I share my hon. Friend’s sentiment about SMEs. The measures announced will be a huge boost to SMEs, but this Government are aware that there is more that we can do. As we continue to build this exciting agenda with the British film industry, we will continue to talk to it and to make sure that we are meeting the needs of SMEs from the length and breadth of the country.

[Sir John Whittingdale (Maldon) (Con)]

I welcome the statement, but does the Secretary of State recognise that investment in the film industry depends on confidence and certainty, not least in the copyright protection regime? Will she make it clear that the Government do not intend to extend copyright exceptions to text and data mining? That would damage both the creative and the publishing industries massively.

[Lisa Nandy]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for all the work he has done over many years to support and champion the creative industries and to challenge successive Governments, as I know he will challenge us—sadly—on these issues. I agree that investment depends on confidence and certainty. That is one of the reasons why we introduced this measure now, rather than waiting a few more weeks until the spending review: we heard the message loud and clear from the film industry that the longer it faced further delays, the less investment it would be able to attract.

I noted the right hon. Gentleman’s point about the copyright protection regime. In the Government’s view, artificial intelligence presents significant opportunities, but it also poses serious challenges for creative industries. I am delighted to say that our Minister of State—my hon. friend the Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism—is also a Minister of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and he is working at pace to try to resolve these issues.