This comes at a time when there is an avalanche of new AI products, chatbots and generative search engines. Whilst useful tools to enhance working practices, they have also been giving users access to publishers’ work – including content which lies behind a subscription paywall- without permission or renumeration.

Has the PPA responded?

Over the past few months, the PPA has actively engaged with members to ensure a representative response that reflects the importance of implementing AI regulation and upholding existing copyright laws.

We have worked hard with a diverse range of leaders across our membership, to ensure we include the views of multinational consumer businesses, business media, and independent publishers.

Our response reflects the collective voice of the sector, emphasising its significant contribution to the UK economy and society. The creative industries is responsible for in excess of £120bn, a figure more than the automotive, aerospace, life sciences, and oil and gas industries combined*

(*source: Culture, Media & Sport Committee)

We strongly advocate for the protection of copyright, ensuring that the Government does not undermine the rights that underpin creativity, innovation, and a sustainable publishing industry.

How is the PPA raising awareness of the challenges our industry faces?

As members of the Creative Rights in AI Coalition, we have worked alongside other sectors (including news and music) on the highly visible ‘Make it Fair’ campaign, which launched on 25 February 2025.

PPA members generously gave online inventory and flooded social channels with unified and supportive statements.

The submission and campaign build on our ongoing work lobbying parliament around the issue. Earlier this month PPA CEO, Sajeeda Merali gave evidence in the House of Commons. She made it clear that the Government cannot allow generative AI companies to use publishers’ content to develop competing commercial products without fair compensation.

MPs are set to vote in March on a series of AI regulation provisions designed to uphold copyright protections. While the Government is not expected to be overturned, growing pressure is mounting for concessions that support the creative industries.

What was in the PPA’s response?

The following is a summary of the key points that were included in our submission.

AI must not undermine copyright protections

• The PPA strongly opposes any weakening of copyright laws that would allow AI developers to use publishers’ content without permission or compensation.
  
  
• The Government must ensure that copyright protections remain robust in the AI era.

AI developers are exploiting publishers’ content without consent

• Many AI companies scrape and use publishers’ content — often from behind paywalls — without permission, undermining publishers’ business models.
  
  
• These AI-generated outputs directly compete with publishers’ own products, diverting traffic and revenue.
  
  
• Even when publishers use tools like robots.txt to block AI crawlers, AI firms often ignore these restrictions.

Transparency and regulatory oversight are essential

• The PPA calls for mandatory transparency at all stages of AI development, from data crawling to model deployment.
  
  
• AI firms should be required to disclose their data sources and ensure compliance with copyright law.
  
  
• A statutory regulator must be empowered to enforce compliance, issue fines, and halt non-compliant AI data processing.
  
  
• Publishers must also retain the right to take legal action against AI firms that use their content without permission.

AI firms must not leverage market dominance to pressure publishers

• AI and search engine companies must not force publishers into unfair deals by linking search result visibility to AI training participation.
  
  
• Competition regulators should intervene to prevent anti-competitive practices.

Licensing must be incentivised for a sustainable path forward

• AI firms must obtain explicit permission from publishers and pay for content through fair licensing agreements, whether individual or collective.
  
  
• Without proper regulation, AI-generated content will degrade in quality, as AI models rely on high-quality, original publisher content for training.

What happens next?

The Government will carefully consider all submissions received and will eventually publish its formal response setting out next steps. They have not yet given an indication of when this will be, but we expect it will happen at some point in the next six months.

For more information about the PPA’s response or our work on AI and copyright, please contact our Head of Policy & Public Affairs eilidh.wilson@ppa.co.uk.