Don't gift our work to AI billionaires, artists and authors demand

Original British art and creative skill is in peril thanks to the rise of AI and the government's plans to loosen copyright rules, some of the UK's leading cultural figures have said.

- Vanessa Thorpe

More than 2,000 people, including leading creative names such as Mark Haddon, Axel Scheffler, Benji Davies and Michael Rosen, have signed a letter published in the Observer today calling on the government to keep the legal safeguards that offer artists and writers the prospect of a sustainable income.

The urgent plea, highlighting the impact on books, comes after stars including Sir Elton John, Joan Armatrading and Simon Cowell sounded the alarm about the effect on the music industry of the impending copyright exemption.

The letter specifically targets a clause of the government's upcoming AI Opportunity Action Plan, which argues that an end to copyright restrictions and intellectual property law is needed to allow greater data-mining of artwork and writing.