Lords examine new amendment to data bill to require AI firms declare use of copyrighted content
A new amendment to the data bill that would require artificial intelligence companies to disclose their use of copyright-protected content has been tabled, after MPs voted to remove an earlier version on Wednesday.The amendment by the cross-bench peer and former film director Beeban Kidron will be a fresh challenge to plans to let artificial intelligence firms use copyright-protected work without permission.It circumvents the financial privilege grounds – meaning there is no budget available for the regulation – on which its predecessor was rejected..The new wording states the government “may” make enforcement provisions rather than “must”, and gives no detail about how the government could enforce them.
It will be put to peers in the House of Lords for debate on 19 May after the earlier version of the amendment passed by 272 votes to 125 in a debate on Monday,Lady Kidron said: “We have accepted the speaker’s ruling on the Commons financial privilege and replaced the original amendment with another that would still offer transparency,“We very much hope that the government will accept it because it is in line with the review that they have proposed and the transparency that they have repeatedly said is a key to the outcome,But what it offers the creative industries and UK AI companies is a clear timeline, and a mechanism by which licensing and not stealing can become the norm,”Owen Meredith, chief executive of the News Media Association, said: “This new amendment removes any potential direct spending implications for enforcement – which was the Commons’ objection to the previous drafting – and would ensure copyright owners receive clear, relevant, accurate and accessible information about how their work is accessed and used, but gives the government flexibility over exactly how this is achieved.
“The entire creative industries, the voting public, and multiple parliamentary reports and debates have given a clear view to the government that action now to ensure rights holders are better equipped to enforce the existing law, with the proportionate application of transparency, is a progressive way forward,It’s time to act, not just ‘listen’,”In Wednesday’s debate, the data protection minister, Chris Bryant, told MPs that although he recognised that for many in the creative industries this “feels like an apocalyptic moment”, he did not think the transparency amendment delivered the required solutions, and he argued that changes needed to be completed “in the round and not just piecemeal”,He added that the sooner the data bill was passed, the quicker he would be able to make progress on updating copyright law,The government’s copyright proposals are the subject of a consultation due to report back this year, but opponents of the plans have used the data bill as a vehicle for registering their disapproval.
The main government proposal is to let AI firms use copyright-protected work to build their models without permission unless the copyright holders opt out – a solution that critics say is unworkable.
‘Love, hope, community and resistance’: ACLU to unveil 9,000 sq ft quilt for trans rights
“It would be a lie if I said I wasn’t anxious,” Abdool Corlette said while discussing his latest project with the American Civil Liberties Union, Freedom to Be. An award-winning film-maker and head of brand at the ACLU, Corlette has been working for nearly two years with hundreds of trans people across the country to create a 9,000 sq ft quilt, composed of 258 panels that are packed with responses to the question: what does freedom mean to you?Corlette is anxious because Freedom to Be is all about trans joy and trans freedom, and it will make a defiant stand for both on 17 May in Washington DC in spite of the war that Donald Trump has waged against the trans community since his inauguration.“We have been doing everything we can to create contingency plans to make sure we have every scenario accounted for,” Corlette said. “This is what keeps me up at night, making sure our guests are safe.”This was not the celebration that Corlette had hoped for
Seth Meyers on Trump corruption: ‘It’s all so brazen’
Late-night hosts recapped Donald Trump’s ongoing tour of the Middle East and his brazenly corrupt business deals in the region.On Wednesday’s Late Night, Seth Meyers mocked Donald Trump’s “cartoonishly corrupt” presidency, as he toured Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates after signing billions of dollars of real estate and cryptocurrencies deal in the region. “It’s all so brazen that at this point, at this point I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump just started calling his cryptocurrency ‘corrupto-currency’,” Meyers laughed.In Riyadh, Trump “slobbered praise” over the country’s leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but also asked: “How do you sleep at night?”“Leave it to Trump to accidentally say something incredibly damning while trying to give someone a compliment,” said Meyers, imitating Trump speaking to the ruler who ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. “This guy can’t sleep at night – some say it’s because he’s always thinking, others say he’s haunted by the atrocities he’s committed
Stephen Colbert on Trump’s international diplomacy: ‘A highest-bidder approach’
Late-night hosts mocked corruption in Donald Trump’s presidency after his first international visit to Saudi Arabia and acceptance of a $400m luxury plane from Qatar.Trump made the first international trip of his second term on Tuesday, to Saudi Arabia. “A president visiting Saudi Arabia on his first official trip is a bit unusual,” said Stephen Colbert on the Late Show. “Normally, back when we had normal, presidents would make their first international trip to the UK or Canada or any close ally.“But like everything, Trump’s decision seemed to come down to a highest-bidder approach,” Colbert continued
Jon Stewart on Trump’s $400m Qatari jet: ‘He’s like the reverse Oprah’
Late-night hosts expressed outrage over Donald Trump accepting a luxury Boeing jet from Qatar as the new Air Force One.From his Monday perch on The Daily Show, Jon Stewart responded to news that Donald Trump planned to accept a super luxury Boeing jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar, with an estimated value of $400m. The aircraft would be used by Trump as a new Air Force One and then transferred to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation shortly before he leaves office.“What? Qatar is giving us a plane that Trump gets to keep?” said Stewart. “He’s like the reverse Oprah – ‘I get a jet! … and that’s it
School visits to UK museums hit by ‘shortage of means’, philanthropist says
Smaller UK museums are suffering from a “shortage of means” that leaves them lagging behind their European counterparts, according to a philanthropist who is funding museum trips for thousands of British schoolchildren.Frédéric Jousset, a French philanthropist who made waves when he founded a mobile museum onboard a €32m catamaran, said British children were missing out on access to the arts because of a lack of investment.“The public spending to support cultural institutions is just higher [in France],” said Jousset. “There’s a shortage of means, especially at smaller UK museums in areas of higher deprivation, and they just can’t afford to finance the school visits.”A report released last year by the University of Warwick and the Campaign for the Arts pressure group showed that while Britain has cut back its total culture budget by 6% since 2010, France has increased its spending by 25%
Broden Kelly: Yabusele review – Aunty Donna’s straight man gets personal
You don’t have to be male and Caucasian to find Broden Kelly funny, but anecdotal evidence suggests it doesn’t hurt. As I arrive, an emcee booms grandly across the courtyard: “If you are here for Broden Kelly, just follow the trail of white boys.” During some crowd work early in the show, an audience member tells Kelly he’s “an investor”. (“Crypto?” Kelly winces.) And on our way out of the theatre, I am kettled in front of a man explaining to his friend that he listens to “like, ten different podcasts”, and I cram in my AirPods the moment I hear the word “subreddit”
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