UK consultation on AI concludes that a text and data mining exception to copyright and database right infringement for any purpose should be introduced

The UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has published its response to its consultation on legislative changes needed to accommodate AI which closed in January 2022.

The Government's response states that it "has accepted the need to create a new data mining exception for copyright and database rights", and that "This will make it easier to analyse material for machine learning, research and innovation".  The exception will apply to text and data mining "for any purpose" although rights holders will still have safeguards to protect their content, including a requirement for lawful access. The response also includes details of the Government's decision not to introduce changes to the UK’s patent inventorship criteria or copyright computer generated works provisions at this time, although the law will be kept under review.

The Government sought evidence and views on a range of options on how AI should be dealt with in the patent and copyright systems. There had earlier been a "call for views" in September 2020, the results of which were published in April 2021.

Three specific areas were considered by the consultation:

1. copyright protection for computer-generated works (CGWs) without a human author;
2. licensing or exceptions to copyright for text and data mining (TDM) (significant in AI use and development); and
3. patent protection for AI-devised inventions.

The Government has concluded:

1. "For computer-generated works, we plan no changes to the law. There is no evidence at present that protection for CGWs is harmful, and the use of AI is still in its early stages. As such, a proper evaluation of the options is not possible, and any changes could have unintended consequences. We will keep the law under review and could amend, replace or remove protection in future if the evidence supports it."
2. "For text and data mining, we plan to introduce a new copyright and database exception which allows TDM for any purpose. Rights holders will still have safeguards to protect their content, including a requirement for lawful access."
3. "For AI-devised inventions we plan no change to UK patent law now. Most respondents felt that AI is not yet advanced enough to invent without human intervention. But we will keep this area of law under review to ensure that the UK patent system supports AI innovation and the use of AI in the UK. We will seek to advance AI inventorship discussions internationally to support UK economic interests."

Links to full response documents here.