The UK government was reported in March to be considering a copyright exception that would let AI developers train models on protected music and other works without asking, while still requiring licences before any resulting product went on sale. The idea, first reported by The Times, was among options being prepared ahead of a parliamentary statement on copyright reform due on March 18.
According to the report, the proposal originated with Microsoft, Google and Meta along with some academics. Creative industry groups objected that it would hand AI companies the upper hand in any later licensing talks, and the BPI, which represents UK labels, called it deeply troubling and worse than the opt-out model the government had previously favoured. The BPI argued that the stream of deals between music companies and AI firms shows licensing already works.
Culture minister Baroness Twycross declined to rule the idea out, though sources quoted by The Times said Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall were not in favour. Ministers had already dropped the earlier opt-out approach after a campaign by artists including Elton John, Paul McCartney and Dua Lipa, and a Lords amendment requiring training transparency was stripped from the Data (Use and Access) Act in 2025.
On the same day as the report, the Lords Communications and Digital Committee said a developer exception was neither necessary nor desirable, setting the creative sector's economic weight against the far smaller AI sector and warning against a race to the bottom on copyright. The government said it wanted a regime that protects human creativity and promised to keep engaging with Parliament.
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