Data (Use and Access) Bill [HL]

Lord Vallance of Balham Excerpts

Committee stage
Wednesday 18th December 2024 Grand Committee

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

I can tell the noble Lord, Lord Holmes, that we published our analysis of the consultation responses to the previous Home Office investigation in November 2023, so all those mixed responses are on the record. It was therefore concluded by the Government that further work needed to be done on this. On my noble friend’s report, was there a government response?

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

Yes, the Government accepted the recommendations in full.

[Lord Clement-Jones (LD)]

Before the Minister sits down or stands up or whatever the appropriate phrase should be, I very much hope that, since the previous Government gave that indication, this Government will take that as a spur to non-glacial progress. I hope that at least the speed might get up to a number of miles per hour before too long.

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Ultimately, we need to know considerably more about this before Report, so I ask the Minister to write with a detailed technical description of the proposed solution, terms of reference for the consultation exercise and the Government’s plans to drive international adoption of their approach or to adapt their approach based on international proposals.

[The Minister of State, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (Lord Vallance of Balham) (Lab)]

As someone who has spent my life creating IP, protecting IP and sometimes giving IP away, I welcome this debate. I am extremely grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Kidron, for a very thoughtful set of proposals. The fact that many noble Lords have spoken in this debate shows that the rapid development of AI has clearly raised concerns about how to protect the creative industries. The Government take this very seriously. As the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, pointed out, we need to get it right, which is why we have launched a very wide-ranging consultation on a package of interventions to address copyright and AI issues. It is an important first step in an area where the existing situation is clearly not working and we run the risk of many long-lasting court cases, which will not help the situation in which we find ourselves.

We are committed both to supporting human-centred creativity and to the potential of AI to unlock new horizons. Many in the creative industries use AI very widely already. Our goal is to support AI innovation in the UK while maintaining robust protection for creators and our vibrant creative industry. In response to a point that the noble Baroness, Lady Kidron, raised earlier, option 1 in the consultation refers to existing copyright law and asks for views about maintaining and increasing it. The consultation sets out the Government’s objectives for this area and proposes a range of measures on which we are seeking views. Specifically, it aims to support rights-holders to continue to exercise control over the use of their content and their ability to seek remuneration for this. As many noble Lords have pointed out, that has to be made easy and technically feasible. It also promotes greater trust and transparency and proposes mechanisms by which you can see who is looking at the data and what they are doing with it.

Finally, it aims to support the development of world-leading AI models in the UK by ensuring that access can be appropriately wide but, of course, lawful and with the approval of those it is got from. This includes the subjects of the noble Baroness’s amendments. The consultation seeks views on technological measures that can provide greater control over access to and use of the online material, as well as transparency measures that help copyright owners understand whether their work is being used by AI developers. Again, this needs to be made easy. Various technologies are coming along which can do that, including, as has been said, the watermarking approach.

Much of this needs to be wrapped into an approach to standards. It is important that this is done in a way that is reproducible and reliable. Through this consultation, we will address some of these issues and seek to continue to get input from stakeholders on all of them. We will also work towards internationally interoperable solutions, as raised by many noble Lords, including the noble Lord, Lord Freyberg, and the noble Earl, Lord Effingham.

I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Kidron, that a vibrant and effective licensing approach—a system that works well and provides access and rights—is important. She asked about an impact assessment. I do not have the information with me now, but I will write. I look forward to updating her on this work in due course and, in the meantime, hope that she is content to withdraw her amendment.

[Baroness Kidron (CB)]

Does the Minister recognise the characterisation of noble Lords who have said that this is theft? Currently, we have a law and copyright is being taken without consent or remuneration. Does he agree with them that this is what the creative industries and, I presume, some of his community are experiencing?

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

At the moment we have a system where it is unclear what the rights are and how they are being protected, and therefore things are being done which people are unable to get compensation for. We can see that in the court cases going on at the moment. There is uncertainty which needs to be resolved.

[Baroness Kidron (CB)]

I thank the Minister for his answer and welcome him very much to the Dispatch Box—I have not yet had the pleasure of speaking with him in a debate. I hope he saw the shaking heads when he answered my question about theft and this lack of clarity. If you say “Write me the opening chapter of a Stephen King novel”, and the AI can do it, you can bet your bottom dollar that it has absorbed a Stephen King novel. We know that a lot of this material is in there and that it is not being paid for. That goes for issues big and small.

I understand that it is late and we have more to do—I have more to say on other issues—but I want to reiterate three points. First, creative people are not anti-tech; they just want control over the things they create. AI is a creation on top of a creation, and creative people want to be paid for their efforts and to be in control of them. I am not sure whether I can mention it, because it was in a private meeting, but a brand that many people in most countries will have heard of said: “We need to protect our brand. We mean something. An approximation of us is not us. It is not just the money; it is also the control”.

I also make the point that, earlier this week, Canal+ had its IPO on the London Stock Exchange. I heard the CEO answer the question, “Why is it that Canal+ decided to come and do its IPO in the UK when everybody else is scarpering elsewhere?”, by saying a lot of very warm-hearted things about Paddington Bear, then, “Because you have very good copyright laws”. That is what they said. I just want to mention that.

Finally, I am grateful to the Minister for saying that there is the option of staying with the status quo; I will look at that and try to understand it clearly. However, when he writes about the issue that I raised in terms of opting in or opting out—I am grateful to him for doing so—I would also like an answer about where the Government think the money is going to go. What is the secondary value of the AI companies, which are largely headquartered in the US? Where will the IP, which those companies have already said they want to protect—they did so in their response to the Government’s consultation; I said that it in my speech, for anyone who was not listening—go? I would like the Government to say what their plans are, if we lose the £1.6 billion and the 2.4 million jobs, to replace that money and those jobs, as well as their incredible soft power.

With that, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.