Law

Plans to amend copyright law to allow artificial intelligence developers to exploit protected works without the permission of creators and rightsholders have been ditched by government.

During a debate in the House of Commons today Intellectual Property Minister George Freeman said he and DCMS Minister Julia Lopez felt that the proposals were not correct and that they would “not be proceeding" with them.

The changes of policy follows opposition to the proposals from the music industry.

“We are looking to stop them and to return to office to have a rather deeper conversation with the All Party Parliamentary Group who I met yesterday, with experts in both Houses and with the industry,” Freeman said.

Commenting on the announcement, Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, Chief Executive of UK Music, said: “UK Music warmly welcomes the minister’s decision to scrap plans for a catastrophic blanket copyright exception.

“The whole music industry has been united in its opposition to these proposals, which would have paved the way for music laundering and opened up our brilliant creators and rights holders to gross exploitation.

“We are delighted to see the back of a policy that risked irreparable damage to the global success story that is the UK music industry."

Musicians' unions have welcomed the news that the bows used to play stringed instruments, predominantly made from pernambuco wood, will not be subject to crippling new restrictions from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

The Musicians’ Union, the Independent Society of Musicians, the Association of British Orchestras and UK Music worked with the government on a campaign to exempt bows made from the wood from proposed new restrictions that would have subjected travelling musicians to complex paperwork. The move would have also decimated the bow-making trade and hampered sales of antique bows. 

Pernambuco wood, which only grows in Brazil, has been subject to some CITES restrictions since 2007 but at the 19th CITES Conference of the Parties, held in Panama, a proposal to heavily tighten restrictions on using the wood was replaced with a requirement that all pernambuco products, including finished bows, are presented with a CITES permit the first time they leave Brazil.

Dave Webster, Head of International for the Musicians’ Union, described the decision as “a significant victory for musicians' right across the globe”. 

“This outcome provides real peace of mind for our members and all musicians with pernambuco bows,” he said.

The new restrictions “will balance Brazilian concerns for the protection of its national tree while avoiding new and unnecessary red tape for musicians and instrument manufacturers across the UK”, said Tom Kiehl, Deputy CEO of UK Music.

“We will continue to monitor the implementation and compliance to ensure the new policy works as intended,” he added.

The National Museum of Scotland is being urged to return a totem pole, stolen from Canada nearly 100 years ago, to a delegation of First Nations leaders.

The pole was removed from a sacred “house group” in the Nisga’a Nation in 1929 by Marius Barbeau, a Canadian ethnographer and anthropologist who sold it to the Scottish museum. Hand-carved in the 1860s, it depicts the story of Ts’wawit, a Nisga’a’ warrior killed in conflict.

Barbeau, who conducted fieldwork beginning in the 1910s, has been criticised for inaccurately portraying indigenous cultures.

The repatriation of the object is in line with the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, signed by the United Kingdom, as well as with the provisions for repatriation laid out in the Nisga’a Treaty, which came into effect in 2000.

If the museum agrees to repatriate the artefact, it will be the second totem pole repatriated to Canada from a European museum. The Haisla G’psgolox pole was returned to Canada from Sweden’s Museum of Ethnography in 2006.

The delegation, which consists of the Nisga’a Nation Chief Earl Stephens, Amy Parent and Shawna McKay, will meet museum officials next week.

“This will be the first time in living memory that members of the House of Ni’isjoohl will be able to see the memorial pole with our own eyes,” Stephens said. “This visit will be deeply emotional for us all.”

Plans to introduce a new text and data mining exception to copyright laws are “deeply concerning” the Design and Artist Copyright Society (DACS) has said.

Data and text mining, the process of extracting useful information and knowledge from data or images, is already exempt from copyright laws if it is done on a non-commercial basis. But an exception proposed by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will extend to commercial activities.

DACS said the move would drastically weaken copyright protections for copyright holders in the UK. The society said that is it supportive of the aim to develop AI-technologies, but added that it is vital that "our copyright framework is upheld in doing so”.

DACS provided evidence to the UK Intellectual Property Office consultation on Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property in January this year, which the society said clearly demonstrated the value of copyright licensing to visual artists, as well as a willingness to collaborate on developing new business models that support AI and machine learning.

It said that licensing copyright-protected works is “a vital revenue source for visual artists at all stages of their careers”.

The new development, which would apply to both commercial and non-commercial uses, “would set a concerning precedent for how copyright policy is developed, undermining not only the UK’s ‘gold standard’ copyright framework but many viable and valuable existing business models”, it added.

The CEO of DACS, Gilane Tawadros, said the rationale behind this change was to support the development of AI-driven technologies, however the reality is that it will have far-reaching detrimental consequences to UK creative workers and visual artists.

“We hope that the Department and the Intellectual Property Office will listen to our concerns and evidence and look again at how the policy objectives can be better met without undermining creators’ rights.”

More than 100 UK music festivals have made a pledge to tackle sexual violence by creating a safe environment for audiences, performers, and staff.

Parklife, Latitude and Boardmasters are among the festivals to sign an updated charter, initially launched by the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) in 2017.

In total, 103 festivals have signed up to the Safer Spaces at Festivals campaign, which states that all allegations of sexual harassment, assault and violence will be taken seriously, acted upon promptly and investigated. 

This is supplemented by a commitment to clear, robust reporting and disclosure procedures, including how to report incidents onsite and post event. 

Charities such as Rape Crisis England and Wales, Good Night Out and Safe Gigs for Women will provide festivals with input and guidance in shaping their policies, procedures and training.

AIF Membership & Operations Coordinator Phoebe Rodwell said: “The original Safer Spaces campaign has had a positive impact across festivals for music fans and festival staff alike. 

"Festivals are microcosms of society and sexual violence is a problem that persists in our society. Our understanding and approaches to tackling the issue are evolving all the time. 

"That’s why it’s important that we renew the Safer Spaces campaign in 2022 with up-to-date messaging, resources and practices, to prevent sexual violence and promote a survivor-led approach, helping festival organisers to fulfil their duty of care at events.”

Performers' union Equity has hailed a "landmark victory" after an employment tribunal ruled that 16 of its members had a legal right to receive holiday pay.

In an action brought through the union after the 2018 pantomime season, the tribunal ruled that the members had a legal right to receive holiday pay from QDos, now known as Crossroads Pantomimes, after it was sold to the entertainment production group Crossroads Live last year.

Crossroads Pantomimes now has to agree to provide claimants with holiday pay for the affected productions or face a remedies hearing which will enforce a settlement. 

Equity General Secretary Paul Fleming, said: “The consequences of the bravery of the Equity members in this case will send ripples through the industry. 

"Crossroads through their predecessor QDos have for many years avoided industry standards and used their powerful position to deprive our members of the pay and terms and conditions which they are due, including through tactics which the judge referred to as having a ‘potentially chilling effect’. 

"A company as big and powerful as Crossroads should be using Equity collective agreements like the overwhelming majority of major commercial producers."