Lords Data Bill amendment challenge to government AI plans

Lords vote would require AI companies to name copyrighted sources

The House of Lords has voted for an amendment to the Data Bill which could force tech companies to inform creatives when their work is going to be used to train LLMs, so they can opt out.

The House of Lords has voted in favour of an amendment to the government’s Data Bill that would require companies to disclose the copyrighted material their models have been trained on.

The author of the amendment, crossbench peer Lady Kidron, argued that it was necessary to ensure that artists and creators are properly attributed, preventing companies from using their material without their knowledge, let alone their permission.

Under proposals being considered by government, AI developers will be allowed to use copyrighted material without the copyright holder’s permission, unless they make it explicitly clear that they do not want their work to be used. However, it is unclear how they might be able to know that their material has been used unless they have been notified, and to therefore opt out.

“I want to reject the notion that those of us who are against government plans are against technology. Creators do not deny the creative and economic value of AI, but we do deny the assertion that we should have to build AI for free with our work, and then rent it back from those who stole it,” said Kidron.

“My lords, it is an assault on the British economy and it is happening at scale to a sector worth £120bn to the UK, an industry that is central to the industrial strategy and of enormous cultural import.”

The amendment was passed by 272 votes to 125.

The government is currently undergoing a consultation for its plans for the AI Bill, which were put back by six months earlier this year. One of the aims of the AI Bill is to coordinate AI regulation with Europe.

Earlier this month, technology secretary Peter Kyle indicated that the government was prepared to retreat on this measure, suggesting that the copyright holders’ opt-out was just one of several proposals he was considering, and no longer his preferred option.

“We’re listening to the consultation, and we are absolutely determined to get this right,” he said. “We can’t pretend we can outlaw training in other countries who have their own copyright law, but we can build a system which works in the UK. Some elements of the consultation haven’t even featured in the debate so far.”

“We will be working hard to come up with practicable solutions to the very complex issue of how we enable both the creative industries and UK AI companies to flourish. We will report to parliament on issues of transparency and licensing and try to find some common ground on which we can agree.”

The Data (Use and Access) Bill was introduced in October 2024 with the aim of slashing bureaucracy, freeing-up time spent on paper chasing and making data more easily transferable across the NHS.

“Plans for a data bill were not explicitly mentioned in the King’s Speech in July 2024.

However, the background briefing notes published alongside the King’s Speech said the government would introduce a "Digital Information and Smart Data Bill”, according to a comprehensive House of Lords Briefing Paper published in November.

The government will almost certainly remove the amendment when it returns to the House of Commons, setting up the possibility of a confrontation with the House of Lords next week.