Starmer wants ‘creatives to thrive’ after musicians lead backlash to AI plans

Sir Keir Starmer said he wants “creatives to thrive” after artists including Sir Elton John and Sir Paul McCartney hit out against proposed changes around copyright law and artificial intelligence.

The Prime Minister said responses to a consultation on the proposals were being reviewed.

Musicians have warned that Government proposals to change UK copyright law to allow AI models to be more easily trained on copyrighted material would greatly damage the creative industries and see artists replaced by technology in the long term.

Under the proposals, an exemption to copyright would be created for training AI, so tech firms would not need a licence to use copyrighted material, and creators would need to opt out to prevent their work from being used.

Sir Elton described the UK’s creative sector as the “envy of the world” but said the plan risked giving away that position.

Former Beatle Sir Paul has warned AI could “rip off” artists.

And Kate Bush, Annie Lennox and Damon Albarn were among more than 1,000 musicians who recorded a silent album in protest at the proposals.

The Prime Minister said: “We’ve had a consultation. We will review the responses to the consultation.

“The creative sector is obviously really important to our economy. AI is really important to our economy and we’ll review it in that light.

“But I’ll be clear, I want creatives to thrive. I think they’re really important for our country – not just the contribution to the economy but our global reputation.”