Meta: AI Development

Lord Berkeley of Knighton Excerpts

Tuesday 27th October 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Ramsey of Wall Heath (Lab)]

The noble Viscount will not be surprised to hear that I disagree with his description of the Government’s strategy, work and progress on this issue. It is very clear that DCMS is in charge of AI and copyright and works across government, including with BIST on growth and the economy, and very closely with the Cabinet Office, which has the lead on the AI strategy. We are progressing our review of creator control and input transparency at pace, and are engaging extensively with stakeholders to assess the effectiveness of existing mechanisms and whether there is an appropriate role for the Government. We hope to publish our findings in the first part of next year.

[Lord Berkeley of Knighton (CB)]

My Lords, are the Government still of the same mind as the committee that reported in March that licensing, not opt-out, must be the way forward? Opt-out would be giving our intellectual property away and make it very hard to protect it. We need licensing for individual properties.

[Baroness Ramsey of Wall Heath (Lab)]

The Government want rights holders to have the information and means to control how their work is used, to secure licences and to enforce their rights. Knowing who accesses content and who may help rights holders to exercise these rights is very important. Our work is to examine what information makes a practical difference to control, including licensing and enforcement.