In this round of parliamentary “ping pong” peers supported a revised amendment led by Baroness Kidron, which would require the Government to make a public assessment on the scale of copyright infringement by AI developers and publish a draft Bill.

These amendments do not propose formal regulations but instead compel Ministers to acknowledge the issue and plan out next steps.

Despite repeated Commons rejections, support for the amendment in the Lords has grown, with a majority of 242 to 116.

While previous amendments focused on direct regulation, this version requires the Government to:

• Make a public statement on the scale of copyright infringement
• Bring forward a draft Bill to improve transparency from AI companies
  

These suggestions keep the issues raised by Kidron on the parliamentary agenda, without welcoming the previous argument from the Commons that the amendments would have financial implications.

Baroness Kidron labelled the vote a test of “whether we uphold the rule of law in the age of AI”, urging the Government to stop blocking efforts to protect UK intellectual property.

The Government has consistently maintained that they are not minded to pursue the asks within the amendments, but rather will rely on working groups inform next steps.

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