Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to pursue a permission-first policy for the protection of individual artists’ work from scraping by tech companies and to ensure all artists who are included in a licensing deal will receive fair remune
Answer
We want creators to have greater control over how their work is used. The Report and Impact Assessment on AI and copyright, published on 18 March, sets out a programme of work to advance our objectives of creator control, access and transparency. The Government will set out its final policy position once this work concludes. Our work includes supporting licensing through initiatives such as the Creative Content Exchange pilot, launched in January 2026 with twelve cultural institutions, which enables rights holders to license digitised works to AI developers while retaining control. We have also established a working group of independent creators and smaller creative organisations to explore whether and how the Government can support their ability to license content.14% vibes
Verdict: RED (17/100)
The reply points to ongoing work on creator control and transparency and says a final policy position will follow, but it does not say whether the Government will adopt a permission-first approach or what protection against scraping would apply, so the first question is only partly answered and in hedged terms. It does not address the second question at all: it describes licensing initiatives but says nothing about how artists would be paid or how the Government would ensure fair remuneration within licensing deals. Overall, the reply is mostly hedged and non-committal, and the person who asked would likely need to submit a follow-up for specific answers.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| What plans the Government has to pursue a permission-first policy to protect individual artists' work from scraping by technology companies | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply points to a programme of work on creator control, access and transparency and says a final policy position will follow, but it never says whether the Government will pursue a permission-first policy or what protection against scraping it would provide. The Creative Content Exchange pilot concerns voluntary licensing rather than protection from scraping, so it does not supply the missing mechanism. |
| How the Government will ensure that all artists included in a licensing deal for the use of their work receive fair remuneration | Not Addressed | Generic | The reply describes licensing initiatives (the Creative Content Exchange pilot and a working group on licensing support) but says nothing about remuneration or how the Government would ensure that all artists in a licensing deal are fairly paid. The pilot's stated feature is rights-holder control, not payment. |