The government has announced it will come up with a new code of practice to replace an earlier approach that faced opposition from the creative sectors.

By Deborah Kirk and Brett Shandler

Latham previously reported on the UK government’s proposal to introduce a new copyright and database exception that allows text and data mining (TDM) for any purpose, provided that the party employing TDM obtains lawful access to the material (June 2022 TDM Proposal). The UK government has now announced that it is abandoning this proposal, and intends to consult with AI firms and rightholders to produce a code of practice to support AI firms to access copyrighted work as an input to their models, whilst ensuring protections on generated output to support rightholders. It has foreshadowed that this code of practice, due by summer 2023, may be followed up with legislation if it is not adopted or agreement is not reached.

A proposed broad copyright exception for text and data mining that favours AI developers is unlikely to be welcome news for rightholders.

By Deborah Kirk and Brett Shandler

On 28 June 2022, the UK government published its response to its consultation on “Artificial Intelligence and IP: Copyright and Patents”, which commenced in October 2021 (Response).

Among other points,[1] the government has indicated its intention to introduce a new copyright and database exception that allows text and data mining (TDM) for any purpose, provided that the party employing TDM obtains lawful access to the material.