In the weeks following the Society of Authors’ day of action outside Meta’s London HQ, we posted our letter to Meta’s US HQ, and received a response to our separate letter to the UK government from Minister of State for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism, Sir Chris Bryant MP.
Our open letter has now reached over 49,000 signatures (you can still sign here) and we published a podcast from the day, here.
Since then, it’s been a busy few weeks in Parliament.
Fresh from Easter recess, on Wednesday 23 April, we attended a debate in Parliament led by James Frith MP on the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on intellectual property.
Such is the interest in the AI and copyright debate, MPs from across the House, including Sir Chris Bryant MP, Wendy Chamberlain MP and Carolyn Harris MP, all spoke passionately about the need for transparency and better protection for creators. Watch the full debate here.
And just last week, we attended a roundtable meeting in Parliament arranged by Baroness Beeban Kidron, which was well attended by representatives from across the creative sector, AI tech companies and fellow members of the Creators’ Rights Alliance.
There were presentations from Select Committee Chairs Dame Caroline Dinenage MP and Chi Onwurah MP who both gave an overview on the joint Science, Innovation and Technology, and Culture, Media and Sport session on AI, which took place back in February 2025.
As a sign of the importance of these AI and copyright debates, we had a very special guest speaker: Björn Ulvaeus, formerly of ABBA. Björn was in the UK to represent the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), the world’s leading network of authors’ societies, for whom he is President.
Björn spoke eloquently about creators’ rights and AI. As a user of AI technology himself, he is keen to exploit its creative potential, but he also spoke with great strength about creators being the ‘oxygen of the industry’ which must be protected, not exploited.
Other speakers included Tim Flagg from UK AI and Sebastian Cuttill from the Creative Rights in AI Coalition, who gave an overview of the proposed amendments to the Data (Use and Access) Bill. This issue is now well supported and understood by MPs from across the House, with attendees including James Frith MP, Annaliese Midgely MP, Samantha Niblett MP, Sir John Whittingdale MP, Lord Tim Clement Jones and Lord Kevin Brennan.
Following this session, the SoA had an introductory meeting with James Frith MP. We’re heartened that he understands authors’ rights and the threat posed to authors’ incomes by AI – and also the real risks to the talent pipeline.
Yesterday (Wednesday 7 May), a delegation of SoA representatives, including Chair of the SoA’s Management Committee, Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin, Joanne Harris and AJ West, attended a photocall outside Parliament for the third reading of the Data Use and Access Bill.
While the Data Bill presented some concessions, we’re well aware that this is the beginning of a long process. And while it’s great to talk to MPs who are on the same page as us in relation to AI and copyright, we need to keep UK government focused on these issues, to ensure authors’ rights are respected and remunerated.
Currently government is still considering changes that benefit AI tech companies, but which negatively impact the creative industries. This needs to change.
As a sector, we need to keep evidencing authors’ loss of work to AI so that we can make the strong economic case of the risks to authors’ livelihoods. We also need to focus on solutions that work: AI licensing and ethical AI model training.
Thank you to all members who are writing to their MPs. It is making a difference. We need to keep the pressure on and work to strengthen our case with Labour MPs specifically, so please keep writing.
For now, we await government’s interim response to the consultation on AI and Copyright, and we continue to explore all legal options for UK authors.
With very best wishes,
Anna
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