Al plea Creative industry voices copyright fears

BOSSES at St George's and the Bristol Old Vic are among 400 figures from the creative industry to write to the Prime Minister, urging him to give Government support to proposals that would protect copyright in the age of AI.

- Chiara RINALDI

The letter comes ahead of a crunch vote on the plans in the House of Lords today.

Signatories to the letter include Glastonbury boss Emily Eavis, pictured far right, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Florence Welch, Kate Bush, Coldplay, Richard Curtis and Ian McKellen, pictured right.

Piers North, the chief executive of the Post's parent company Reach Plc, has also put his name to the missive.

The letter warns: "We will lose an immense growth opportunity if we give our work away at the behest of a handful of powerful overseas tech companies and with it our future income, the UK's position as a creative powerhouse, and any hope that the technology of daily life will embody the values and laws of the United Kingdom."

The letter calls on Keir Starmer to back Baroness Beeban Kidron's amendment to the Data (Use and Access) Bill, which would give the UK creative industries urgently needed transparency over the copyright works ingested by AI models.

This transparency would allow creators and creative businesses to hold AI firms accountable for the mass theft of creative works that continues to take place.