Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to introduce statutory transparency obligations requiring AI developers to maintain and disclose records of copyright works used in training models; and if so, whether those obligations are being considered independently of any copyright exemption.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government will publish a report on the use of copyright works in the development of AI systems by 18 March. This report will consider the policy options set out in the government’s consultation on copyright and AI, set out the evidence and views we have gathered and outline our next steps in areas such as transparency.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what economic impact assessment they have undertaken, or commissioned, regarding the effect of a copyright exemption for AI training on (1) the creative industries, (2) licensing markets for training data, and (3) investment in AI development in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government will publish an economic impact assessment by 18 March, as per Section 135 of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
This will assess the impact of each of the policy options described in the consultation on copyright and AI, on copyright owners, and persons who develop or use AI systems.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of international approaches to copyright and AI training, including in the European Union and United States of America; and whether they have made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to UK copyright law on the UK's competitive position in AI and the creative industries.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government has engaged bilaterally with many jurisdictions, such as the EU and the US, to discuss approaches to copyright and AI policy, share best practice and consider technical issues.
The government continues to seek views on how best to meet the UK’s objectives on AI and copyright, from stakeholders and experts, including through the technical working groups and Parliamentary working groups.
The government will publish a report on the use of copyright works in the development of AI systems by 18 March. This will set out the evidence and views we have gathered and outline our next steps.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are considering introducing a copyright exemption for commercial research, science and research or equivalent activities to permit the use of copyright works for artificial intelligence research and development without the consent of rightsholders; and if so, whether they will publish the scope of that exemption.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government will publish a report on the use of copyright works in the development of AI systems by 18 March. This report will consider the policy options set out in the government’s consultation on copyright and AI, set out the evidence and views we have gathered and outline our next steps.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the reports required under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 will examine an expansion of the existing text and data mining exemption to cover commercial uses; and whether the introduction of such an expansion is their current policy.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government will publish a report on the use of copyright works in the development of AI systems by 18 March. The report will consider the policy options set out in the government’s consultation on copyright and AI, set out the evidence and views we gathered and outline our next steps.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance they provide to national museums and galleries about the copyright status of exact digital reproductions of two-dimensional artworks that are in the public domain.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
According to case law, a work will only be protected by copyright if it is original, in the sense that is the author’s ‘own intellectual creation’. It is questionable whether an unaltered reproduction of an existing work where copyright has expired could satisfy this criterion if there has been no (or very limited) scope for the creator to exercise free creative choices. However, this will depend on the individual facts of the case.
Further guidance is published on GOV.UK in an Intellectual Property Office copyright notice on digital images, photographs and the internet.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how national museums and galleries treat the copyright status of exact digital reproductions of two-dimensional artworks that are in the public domain.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
According to case law, a work will only be protected by copyright if it is original, in the sense that is the author’s ‘own intellectual creation’. It is questionable whether an unaltered reproduction of an existing work where copyright has expired could satisfy this criterion if there has been no (or very limited) scope for the creator to exercise free creative choices. However, this will depend on the individual facts of the case.
The Government has made no assessment of how cultural heritage institutions treat the copyright status of such reproductions in practice.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government which ministers, officials, and external experts attended the meeting held at 10 Downing Street on Wednesday 16 April regarding the establishment of UK sovereign AI capacity; and what criteria were used to select the expert participants.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The AI Opportunities Action Plan, launched in January, outlines 50 actions to drive AI development. We are committed to strengthening the UK sector and supporting the emergence of leading UK AI companies. A broad programme of engagement is a critical part of this commitment. The sovereign AI team has engaged with a wide range of stakeholders, including academics, founders, and investors throughout the UK and will continue to do so.
This recent event, focused on building UK capabilities, was part of that ongoing engagement, and participants were invited accordingly.
Ministerial meetings are published according to normal transparency requirements on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to develop UK sovereign AI capacity; and on what timeframe.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The AI Opportunities Action Plan, launched in January, outlines 50 actions to drive AI development and deployment. The government has committed to taking forward all recommendations, including the establishment of a new, sovereign AI unit with a clear mandate to maximise the UK's stake in frontier AI.
Building sovereign capabilities will enable the UK to harness the economic potential of advanced AI whilst safeguarding our national security, in the context of rapid AI development. The government has already partnered with leading AI companies, such as Anthropic, to explore AI opportunities in the UK. More details of the sovereign AI programme will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Vallance of Balham on 25 March (HL5666), what further details they will provide on meetings Ministers from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology have held with external stakeholders abroad, including the names of the companies and individuals involved.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Ministers and officials have regular meetings with a range of external stakeholders abroad.
Ministerial meetings and engagements are published through quarterly transparency reports on GOV.UK.