UK NEWSPAPERS LAUNCH CAMPAIGN AGAINST AI COPYRIGHT PLANS

LONDON, Feb 25 (Bernama-dpa) -- Some of the UK’s biggest newspapers have used a coordinated campaign across their front pages to raise their concerns about artificial intelligence’s (AI) impact on the creative industries, reported German news agency (dpa).

Special wraps appeared on Tuesday’s editions of the Daily Express, Daily Mail, The Mirror, the Daily Star, The i, The Sun, and The Times – as well as a number of regional titles – criticising a government consultation around possible exemptions being added to copyright law for training AI models.

The proposals would allow tech firms to use copyrighted material from creatives and publishers without having to pay or gain a licence or reimburse creatives for using their work.

In response, publishers have launched the Make It Fair campaign, which saw newspapers put covers on the outside of their front page – criticising the government’s consultation – organised by the News Media Association (NMA).

The message said: “The government wants to change the UK’s laws to favour big tech platforms so they can use British creative content to power their AI models without our permission or payment. Let’s protect the creative industries – it’s only fair.”

It has been timed to coincide with the last day of the government’s consultation on Tuesday.

Owen Meredith, chief executive of the NMA, said that “copyright is fundamental to publishers’ ability to invest in trusted quality journalism”, and AI should be no different.

He said: “We’re appealing to the great British public to get behind our Make it Fair campaign and call on the government to guarantee creatives are able to secure proper financial rewards from AI firms to ensure a sustainable future for both AI and the creative industries.”

-- BERNAMA-dpa