The consultation received 11,520 responses from a broad range of stakeholders, including creators, rights holders, and AI developers, with widely different sentiments on how the future of copyright law should be shaped to accommodate AI.
The report is not a statement on the Government’s plans to reform the law but instead signals that it will continue to consider the questions raised by AI for stakeholders in the UK, including those in the creative industries. The conclusion of the report is that there is little the Government can do without further investigation: it identifies limited consensus amongst stakeholders and notes that the international and technological pictures are sufficiently fast moving that legislating at this stage would be premature. This is similar to the conclusion that the Government reached after its prior consultation on AI (launched in 2022).
Although the report is inconclusive on what the future will look like, the fact that the Government has no plans to pursue a broad-brush text and data mining exception (TDM) in the near future is a win for IP rights holders and the creative industries more broadly. The detailed analysis provided by the Government also gives some insight on the direction of travel and will assist in any action that those impacted by AI may want to take to shape the future of copyright law in the UK:
The Government believes that rights holders should be “fairly remunerated” for the value added to the AI supply chain but, for now, there will be no new copyright exception for AI training:
The Government has ditched its previous preferred approach of a broad TDM exception with an opt-out mechanism. This is following strong opposition from the creative sector. The Government plans to gather further evidence and monitor developments before deciding whether and how to act. Rather than legislative intervention, the Government’s immediate focus is on developing best practice around transparency of training inputs, which it sees as a prerequisite for both rights enforcement and a functioning licensing market. The Government aims to test commercial models for licensing as part of the “Creative Content Exchange” announced last year, and plans to launch its operational pilot platform by Summer 2026.
The report also offers a summary of the alternatives to a broad TDM exception, which were put forward by industry respondents to the consultation. These include a “focused exception” to copyright that would support commercial science and research (an extension of the existing non-commercial research exception), or a public interest exception that would permit AI tools to ingest copyright content for the purposes of detecting harm. The Government is clear that any exception would only apply to material that had been lawfully accessed (i.e., not pirated) and suggested that – if such an exception were to be brought into law – it might include a statutory remuneration model for rightsholders.
Computer-generated works protection likely to be scrapped:
The Government states that its preferred approach would be to remove copyright protection for wholly computer-generated works with no human author, while retaining protection for AI-assisted works where a human has contributed creatively. It says that this is consistent with the principle that copyright “should incentivise and protect human creativity”. This reflects the fact that the majority of respondents were in favour of scrapping the provisions.
The Government is to consider merits of introducing a “personality right” to combat digital replicas:
The report identifies digital replicas (i.e., AI-generated imitations of a person’s voice or likeness) as an area where existing copyright and performers’ rights provisions are inadequate. The Government intends to “explore options” to combat the risks of impersonation for both artists and the general public, including whether creating a new “personality right” may be the most appropriate step. In the meantime, the report acknowledges that more well-known artists may be able to protect their voice or likeness via the tort of passing off or via registered trade marks, but for lesser-known artists and the general public, this will be insufficient.
If you’d like to read the full report, it is available here: Report on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence.
If there’s anything raised by the Government report that you’d like to talk about, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Shireen advises on all types of intellectual property, with a particular emphasis on pragmatic and cost effective disputes and strategic advice. She also provides advice on the protection of IP, IP audits, the exploitation and disposal of IP and the management and enforcement programmes. Her 30 years’ experience means that she is a trusted adviser to many leading businesses and has deep and strong experience in a number of sectors and issues.
Shireen works with clients in a wide range of sectors, including FMCG, retail, fashion, film, TV and theatre, publishing, music, video games and travel. She has a particular interest in the publishing industry (advising a number of leading publishers, authors, literary estates and content platforms) and in cutting edge issues such as the intersection between AI and IP.
Shireen has been listed as both a recommended IP lawyer and a recommended publishing lawyer by Chambers and The Legal 500 for many years. She has been ranked by IP Stars as a 'Top 250 Women in IP 2025', 'Trade mark star 2025', and 'Transactions Star 2025'.
Shireen was a council member of the Advertising Standards Authority, adjudicating on advertising complaints, for six years. She currently sits on the Portman Group Independent Complaints Panel and the Games Rating Authority Appeals Panel.
Lizzie has a diverse commercial disputes practice and wide-ranging experience of litigation and arbitration including urgent injunctions, appeals and group litigation. Lizzie acts for a wide range of clients, from high net worth individuals to large corporates, including technology companies, established brands across a broad range of industries, public sector entities and startups.
Lizzie has particular expertise in commercial disputes with a technology angle. Lizzie advises on traditional IT disputes (involving hardware, software development, outsourcing and licensing) and disputes involving emerging technologies (including artificial intelligence, digital assets and blockchain). In addition, Lizzie advises on disputes arising out of cyber-attacks and online payment frauds, disputes involving investments into technology companies, disputes about technology procurement processes and the management and resetting of distressed digital transformation projects.
Lizzie is recognised as a "Key Lawyer" in Commercial Litigation and Artificial Intelligence in The Legal 500. Clients say Lizzie “is the best commercial litigator around” and praise her “calm, responsive and very creative approach delivered with considerable expertise”.
Lizzie is the author of the Practical Law practice note AI Disputes and Risk Mitigation and the book A Practical Guide to Smart Contracts and the Law and regularly speaks at industry events.
Lizzie graduated from the University of Cambridge with a First Class degree in Law in 2010 before training and qualifying at Herbert Smith Freehills, where she worked on a variety of complex litigation and arbitration matters for a number of years, before joining Harbottle & Lewis in 2017. Lizzie is a member of the Society for Computers & Law, the Tech Disputes Network, the Cyber Fraud and Asset Recovery Network and the Silicon Valley Arbitration & Mediation Center.
Her areas of specialism include book publishing agreements, audio and podcasting agreements, copyright analysis and advice including chain-of-title research, and rights acquisition and exploitation including book-to-screen and book-to-stage deals.
Before qualifying as a lawyer, Zoey studied English Language & Literature at the University of Oxford, obtaining a first class degree, and worked in an number of bookshops, including Waterstones, Harrods’ bookstore and Heywood Hill. Zoey is a member of The British Literary and Artistic Copyright Association and the Copyright Committee of the Association of Learned & Professional Society Publishers.
Her experience also includes advising on data protection disputes and technology and media related disputes, including contractual disputes and domain name recovery. Marissa advises clients across a range of sectors, including theatre, publishing, film, tv, music, games, technology and retail, on the management of their global trade mark portfolios and the enforcement of their soft IP rights. She has experience advising on all phases of a dispute, from pre-action correspondence through to trial, in UKIPO, IPEC, High Court and Court of Appeal proceedings.
Marissa has a particular interest in the intersection between artificial intelligence, the creative industries and intellectual property law, and has advised a number of clients on cutting edge copyright issues arising from generative AI.
Prior to working in law, she co-founded and produced a number of national tours for an award-winning theatre company. Marissa has since advised a number of notable theatre and publishing clients on a range of industry-specific and time-sensitive IP issues, and has been recognised as a "Key Lawyer" for these industries in the The Legal 500 2024 guide. Marissa holds a Postgraduate Diploma in IP Law and Practice from the University of Oxford.
Noonie advises on a range of intellectual property disputes relating to trade marks, passing off, copyright and design rights, acting for clients across a broach range of sectors. She has experience advising clients at each stage of a dispute in proceedings before the UKIPO, IPEC and High Court.
In addition to her litigation experience, Noonie works with clients on all aspects of IP portfolio management and enforcement, with a focus on the retail, media, publishing, music consumer technology, and food and drink sectors.
Prior to joining Harbottle & Lewis in 2025, Noonie was an associate in the IP & technology litigation team at RPC, where she qualified in 2022.