Skip to main content
Logo icon
Lord Black
of Brentwood

Main navigation

  • Home
  • About
  • In Parliament
  • News & Speeches
  • Contact
Logo icon
Lord Black
of Brentwood

Protecting content creators

  • Tweet
Tuesday, 28 January, 2025
  • Speeches in Parliament
Lord Black

In a debate on 28th January 2025 on the  Government's Data (Use and Access) Bill, Guy talked about the vital importance of protecting copyright for content creators - including the media - working across the creative industries. 

He explained why it is so important for our free press: "an effective, enforceable and comprehensive copyright regime is absolutely fundamental to the sustainability of a free, independent media. Without it, the media cannot survive. Publishers have to invest huge amounts of money in high-quality journalism, investigative reporting, world-class comment and content. That they can do so is because copyright laws protect this content, ensuring the commercial viability of publishers —print and broadcast—as well as the livelihoods of individual journalists and freelancers."

Saying that he is not "anti-AI but pro free independent media, pro the creativity which fuels it, and pro the commercial foundations that support it", he attacked Government plans to water down copyright protection for content creators through a so-called "opt out" approach, which would in effect allow AI firms free access to material. "I welcome the Government’s apparent aim to provide transparency and facilitate licensing, but their preferred option of an exception—on which there has been no impact assessment - is fundamentally flawed and wholly impractical." And he issued a stark warning: "without adequate transparency, control and reward, publishers will no longer be able to invest as they have in the creation of the original, high-quality investigative content on which our democracy and the accountability of those in power are based. Without that, our democracy will die in the dark at the hands of Silicon Valley, as we become dependent on the morass of fake news and social media clickbait."

The full text of the debate is here.

ENDS

You may also be interested in

Gavel

SLAPPs - "Government must act to stop continuing abuse"

Thursday, 6 March, 2025
Leading a short debate in the Lords on 6th March on the "continuing abuse" of SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), Guy highlighted how they are used by the "powerful and corrupt to silence journalists and bloggers and to shut down legitimate scrutiny." When in opposition, t

Show only

  • Articles
  • European News
  • Local News
  • Media
  • Speeches
  • Speeches in Parliament
  • Westminster News
  • Written Questions News

Guy Black Lord Black of Brentwood

Footer

  • About RSS
  • Accessibility
  • Cookies
  • Privacy
  • About
  • In Parliament
This website is paid for by Lord Black personally.
Copyright 2025 Guy Black Lord Black of Brentwood. All rights reserved.
Powered by Bluetree