Actors, musicians and writers welcome UK U-turn on AI use of copyrighted work

Government no longer has ‘preferred option’ on copyright, technology secretary says, after backlash from artists

Actors, musicians and writers have welcomed the UK government’s decision to backtrack on plans to let AI firms use copyright-protected work without permission.

Technology secretary Liz Kendall said it no longer had a “preferred option” on copyright reform, having previously supported a proposal allowing tech companies to take copyrighted work – unless rights holders opted out of the process.