Protect creators' rights: require AI firms to disclose training data

We ask the Government to introduce a statutory duty requiring AI developers to disclose the copyrighted works used to train generative AI in enough detail for creators to identify use of their work, enforce their rights, negotiate licences and be fairly paid.

Creators need clear rules and regulations that ensure their work is used with consent, proper licensing and fair remuneration. They need transparency about how their work is being used in AI training, accountability from AI companies, and legal protections that respect creative rights. This isn't about rejecting technology, but about establishing a framework that makes AI development fair and sustainable for the creative industries. 

Greater transparency about how AI developers train their models, including the content and data they use, can help right holders assert their rights.

The UK is home to world-leading creative industries and a growing AI sector. The Government does not believe we need to choose between them. We want an approach to copyright and AI that supports innovation, rewards human creativity, builds public trust in AI, and provides the certainty needed for both sectors to grow.

In March 2026, the Government published its Report on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-and-impact-assessment-on-copyright-and-artificial-intelligence). This considered transparency alongside licensing, enforcement and technical tools and standards. It found support from the creative industries for greater transparency, but different views on what information should be provided and how this should work in practice. The Government concluded that further work was needed before deciding its long-term approach.

The Government also announced a review of the mechanisms available to help creators control the use of their works online. This includes technical standards, and best practice on input transparency.

As part of this work, we are considering what role greater transparency could play and how different approaches would work in practice. This includes what information would be useful to creators and rightsholders, what AI developers could reasonably provide, and how transparency could support licensing, enforcement and creator control. We are engaging creators and rightsholders, AI developers, legal and technical experts, standards bodies and Parliament to inform this work.

This work will inform whether there is an appropriate role for government, including consideration of proposals such as the statutory transparency duty proposed by the petition. Any requirement would need to provide information that is useful in practice, while being workable and proportionate. The Government is also taking forward work on AI-generated content labelling and digital replicas, establishing a working group for smaller and independent creative organisations, and monitoring the development of licensing markets (https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2026-03-18/hcws1416).

Any future action must help creators and rightsholders protect and license their works, while enabling responsible AI innovation. The Government will not make changes to copyright law unless it is confident they are workable and support the creative industries, the AI sector and the wider economy.

Department for Business, Innovation, Science & Trade