Alongside this, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has released an 80-page policy paper titled, Creative Industries Sector Plan, setting out detailed growth plans for the creative industries.

The sector plan identifies four sub-sectors as having the “highest potential” for growth: film and TV, music, performing and visual arts, video games, and advertising and marketing. However, publishing has not been recognised as a key sub-sector, a point also raised by the Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Caroline Dinenage MP.

A key announcement within the Sector Plan was the proposed development of a ‘Creative Content Exchange’ (CCE), described as a ‘marketplace for selling, buying, licensing and enabling permitted access to digitised cultural and creative assets’. The CCE is framed as a mechanism to open up new revenue streams for content owners, and is presented in a press release as part of the Government’s commitment to maintaining a robust copyright regime.

However, some have noted that the proposals do not fully address long-standing concerns around copyright and AI. While the function of the CCE remains to be known, it appears to be formed as a voluntary platform, rather than a regulatory framework for developers seeking to access copyrighted content for training AI systems. There are also concerns around how it would operate around current licensing models and whether it could risk undermining these frameworks already in use across the industry.

Commenting on the CCE, the PPA’s Head of Policy and Public Affairs, Eilidh Wilson, said: “We are particularly interested to see how a proposed Creative Content Exchange develops. Incentivising an effective licensing market in the context of AI technology requires regulation to address widespread copyright infringement. This is something which the Government failed to address in the Data Bill earlier this month.”

The PPA responded to the original industrial strategy in Autumn 2024. We are actively engaging with the sector and officials, including DCMS Secretary of State, on the forthcoming plans, including the Creative Cultural Exchange.

For further information contact Eilidh Wilson, Head of Policy and Public Affairs, PPA (eilidh.wilson@ppa.co.uk)

You can read the Invest 2035: the UK’s modern industrial strategy consultation here.