UK AI and Copyright Voluntary Code of Practice Dropped – What Next?

Balancing IP rightsholders' and AI developers' interests proves difficult as agreement on a code cannot be reached and Lords committee calls for certainty.

In March 2023, following a review of pro-innovation regulation conducted by Sir Patrick Vallance, then the government's chief scientific adviser, the government agreed to produce, by that summer, a code of practice which would give clarity on the relationship between intellectual property (IP) law and artificial intelligence (AI) and would be developed in collaboration with the AI and creative sectors. However, summer came and went and no code materialised.

The government has now confirmed in its response to its AI regulation consultation that no effective voluntary code can be agreed. It has promised that it will soon set out further proposals on the way forward and flagged that it intends to explore mechanisms for providing greater transparency so that rightsholders can better understand whether content they produce is used as an input into AI models.

This course delves into the intricate intersection of intellectual property (IP) rights and artificial intelligence (AI), particularly focusing on the contentious debate surrounding the utilisation of data for AI development.

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

1. Understand the pivotal role of data and content in the development of AI models
2. Explain the legal and ethical implications of using IP-protected content for AI training
3. Describe contrasting perspectives between the creative sector and AI developers regarding IP rights infringement in AI development