Artists’ earnings, fair pay for creators and AI challenges raised in House of Commons Creative Industries Debate.
Image courtesy UK Parliament
MPs called on the Government to respect copyright in its response to the copyright and AI consultation, and explore new funding solutions for the creative industries that could offer fairer pay for the UK’s visual artists.
On Monday 27 January, MPs held a general debate on the Creative Industries, covering issues including low pay and precarious work, access to arts education and provision, new sources of funding for the arts, and the impact of Generative AI on the livelihoods of creatives. Many MPs highlighted concerns expressed by the sector around the Government’s proposed approach to the copyright and AI consultation, namely around the workability of a proposed ‘rights-reservation’ system, and the need for improved transparency on the part of AI developers.
James Frith MP, urged that
“legislators, policymakers and industry leaders must heed the creator’s voice and recognise the existential threat that AI poses to their livelihoods if we forfeit copyright as we know it.”
Highlighting the University of Glasgow’s Artists’ Earnings and Contracts Report, commissioned by DACS, Polly Billington MP emphasised the need to improve the remuneration for those who create the culture that improve all our lives:
"As well as inequality of access to the arts, there is inequality of reward. According to research from the University of Glasgow, the median income for visual artists is £12,500 a year—a 40% decrease in earnings since 2010. That is almost 50% lower than the income of a full-time minimum wage worker."
Ms Billington went on to highlight DACS’ AI and Artists Report, which indicated that artists are not ‘anti-AI’ but are open to licensing their work on the condition of fair remuneration and control:
When discussing the rise of AI and the challenges it poses for artists, my constituents are far from the luddites that some would like to dismiss them as. Polling from the Design and Artists Copyright Society shows that 84% of artists would agree to license their work for AI training so long as they received fair pay for it. However, they know that the fundamental act of creation is something that will always differentiate that which a machine has learned from what a human has made. Their right to have that work protected, and their freedom to engage with AI on their terms, is something on which I and many others will continue to seek reassurances from the Government.
Labour, East Thanet
Minister Bryant laid out the Government's commitment to supporting creativity across the UK, and break down barriers to opportunity and access. Jo Platt, MP (Leigh and Atherton) highlighted the need “to reassess funding models, rethink policy frameworks and build stronger educational pipelines to ensure that everyone, regardless of background or postcode, can access careers in culture, media and sport” and went on to describe the Smart Fund proposal as a “game changer”.
I would like to ask the Minister about the introduction of a well-publicised proposal that could be a game changer for visual artists: the Smart Fund. That initiative, backed by creative industry organisations, could unlock the economic potential of the sector by creating new support mechanisms for freelance artists and the wider visual arts sector. That would be a vital step towards bringing the UK into line with other countries, and ensuring that creators from all backgrounds have the support that they need to thrive.
Labour, Leigh and Atherton
