In a debate on 28th January 2025 on the Government's Data (Use and Access) Bill, Guy talked about the vital importance of protecting copyright for content creators - including the media - working across the creative industries.
He explained why it is so important for our free press: "an effective, enforceable and comprehensive copyright regime is absolutely fundamental to the sustainability of a free, independent media. Without it, the media cannot survive. Publishers have to invest huge amounts of money in high-quality journalism, investigative reporting, world-class comment and content. That they can do so is because copyright laws protect this content, ensuring the commercial viability of publishers —print and broadcast—as well as the livelihoods of individual journalists and freelancers."
Saying that he is not "anti-AI but pro free independent media, pro the creativity which fuels it, and pro the commercial foundations that support it", he attacked Government plans to water down copyright protection for content creators through a so-called "opt out" approach, which would in effect allow AI firms free access to material. "I welcome the Government’s apparent aim to provide transparency and facilitate licensing, but their preferred option of an exception—on which there has been no impact assessment - is fundamentally flawed and wholly impractical." And he issued a stark warning: "without adequate transparency, control and reward, publishers will no longer be able to invest as they have in the creation of the original, high-quality investigative content on which our democracy and the accountability of those in power are based. Without that, our democracy will die in the dark at the hands of Silicon Valley, as we become dependent on the morass of fake news and social media clickbait."
The full text of the debate is here.
ENDS
