John Dean – Crime Writer

The Society of Authors (SoA) has welcomed news that the Government is moving away from a proposed copyright exception for AI training, a move which will protect authors’ rights. For what it’s worth, so do I.

The SoA is one of the organisations that is concerned about the use of pirated books to train AI models and has held several protests. SoA officials were worried that the Ministerial Statement and Report on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence would allow such work to be exempted from copyright.

The SoA, which joined other creative organisations to protest, including outside the offices of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, welcomed the Government announcement that “in light of the strong views from the consultation, the gaps in evidence and the rapidly evolving AI sector and international context, a broad copyright exception with opt-out is no longer the Government’s preferred way forward”.

The SoA says that the announcement is welcome but does not mark an end to the campaign because there are still huge levels of uncertainty that threaten livelihoods when authors’ copyright-protected work continues to be used without permission.

SoA Chief Executive, Anna Ganley said: “This is a hard-won moment for authors and creators, as changes to copyright that would have weakened protections are finally laid to rest. We welcome the Government’s reassurance that the option of a TDM (text and data mining) exception and opt-out published back in 2024 are now officially off the table.

“The commitment to a four-strand work programme looking at Digital Replicas, AI Labelling, Creator Control and Transparency, and a working group for Independent Creatives all have the potential to support policies the SoA have been campaigning for to strengthen protection and control.

“However, these wins have been a long time coming. We petitioned the Government a year ago asking for justice for authors. The pace of progress needs to match the excessive speed at which AI is developing and encroaching on creative industries. Each day that the uncertainly continues is a risk to author incomes. Failure to act without further delay will unquestionably have a catastrophic and irreversible impact on all UK authors.”