header-logo header-logo

AI ingestion or indigestion?

221397
Copyright law will need a strong stomach to keep up with the web scrapers, writes Paul Schwartfeger
  • This article considers the law in relation to web scraping and the illegal appropriation of copyrighted works, with reference to precedents and the ongoing Getty case.
  • It explains that bridging the gap between law and technological practice will need targeted legal reform and clear regulatory guidance.

In December 2024, the UK government launched a consultation proposing reforms that would help it deliver a copyright framework that ‘rewards human creativity, incentivises innovation and provides the legal certainty required for long-term growth in both sectors’. Among other measures, it proposed allowing artificial intelligence (AI) companies to mine publicly available content for commercial training purposes, unless rights holders expressly opted out. While echoing abandoned 2022 proposals, the suggested reforms mark a substantial departure from the traditional framework of UK copyright law, which has long emphasised authorial control and consent.

The government’s suggestions, however, have drawn criticism from both the sectors it seeks

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Jersey litigation lead appointed to global STEP Council

mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

Firm invests in future talent with new training cohort

360 Law Group—Anthony Gahan

360 Law Group—Anthony Gahan

Investment banking veteran appointed as chairman to drive global growth

NEWS
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
back-to-top-scroll