Morning, Wednesday, 13th January 2027
Online
This conference will examine next steps for AI and copyright policy following the Government’s confirmation in March 2026 that it no longer has a preferred option for reform, stepping back from its previous preference for a broad copyright exception for AI training with an opt-out. Planned areas for discussion include the future direction of policy and legislation, the development of trusted licensing markets, transparency and creator control, safeguards against unauthorised digital replicas, the labelling of AI-generated content, treatment of computer-generated works, and the requirements for supporting responsible innovation while protecting rights holders.
Policy direction & the forthcoming framework
It will bring together stakeholders and policymakers to discuss priorities for developing a coherent long-term framework following the Government's March 2026 Report on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence, and the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee's report AI, Copyright and the Creative Industries alongside the Government's response.
Delegates will assess how the forthcoming consultation on digital replicas, the AI labelling taskforce, the planned review of creator control mechanisms and the working group on licensing by independent and smaller creative organisations might contribute to this framework, looking at ways forward for addressing concerns of creators, rights holders, AI developers and adopters.
AI licensing & the Creative Content Exchange
Planned sessions will focus on the practical development of trusted and scalable AI licensing markets, including the respective roles of direct and collective licensing, data marketplaces and the Creative Content Exchange pilot.
Attendees will consider how existing licensing arrangements are working in practice, priorities for workable permission and remuneration arrangements, widening participation and reducing transaction costs, and how licensing can respond to different uses of copyright material in model training, fine-tuning, AI-generated search and other retrieval-based services. Discussion will take account of the position of individual creators and smaller rights holders, as well as the circumstances in which further government intervention might be required.
Transparency, creator control, digital replicas & international alignment
Further discussion will consider appropriate approaches to transparency, accountability and enforcement, including technical tools for creator control and the balance between voluntary best practice and statutory requirements. Delegates will assess provenance, attribution and content credentials, safeguards against unauthorised digital replicas, and the proposed treatment of purely computer-generated works.
This also includes how any requirements should apply to systems developed overseas but made available in the UK. Consideration will also be given to international alignment, and the conditions for cross-sector collaboration, investment and responsible adoption and the development of CreaTech, while maintaining confidence in human creativity and the intellectual property framework.
Overview of areas for discussion
- policy direction, evidence & next steps:
- implications of the Government’s change of direction - remaining options, further evidence gathering and the timing of a final decision
- priorities and sequencing for further consultation, legislation, regulation and guidance
- AI licensing markets & infrastructure:
- direct and collective licensing and data marketplaces - permission, remuneration and value distribution - participation by individual creators and smaller rights holders
- licensing for training, fine-tuning and retrieval-based uses - governance, disputes and links with wider rights systems
- Creative Content Exchange pilot - rights clearance, valuation, pricing and lower transaction costs - scope for extension beyond public collections
- transparency, creator control & enforcement:
- training-data disclosure, confidential reporting and audit - balance between voluntary best practice and statutory requirements - application to models trained overseas and made available in the UK
- machine-readable permissions, crawler controls, metadata and rights-management systems - effectiveness and enforcement
- digital replicas, labelling & generated works:
- protections for voices, images and likenesses - scope of any new right - consent, scope and enforcement
- AI-generated content labelling - provenance, attribution and content credentials - proposed removal of specific protection for purely computer-generated works
- international alignment & responsible innovation:
- alignment with EU, US and other approaches - cross-border licensing, international standards and global AI services
- responsible adoption and CreaTech - investment and cross-sector collaboration - maintaining confidence in human creativity and intellectual property
