Policy and Public Affairs Blog: What we've been up to in July

This is the first in a new series of monthly Policy and Public Affairs updates, highlighting the work that DACS undertakes on behalf of our members, and the wider community of visual artists.

We campaign for the protection of artists’ rights and royalties on behalf of artists in the UK and internationally. We advocate for strong intellectual property laws that enable artists to be fairly paid for their work, and for broader policy changes that can better support the livelihoods of visual artists. Our Policy and Communications & Engagement teams work with Parliamentarians, regulators and the wider visual arts and creative sectors on key campaigns, advocacy and research.

General Election activity

Ahead of the General Election of 4th July 2024, DACS published its 3 key policy asks for the new UK Government to support visual artists. These asks are:

• the implementation of the Smart Fund, to create new collective licensing revenue for artists and creatives, when their copyright protected works are copied and downloaded on digital devices.
• regulation of AI that complies with copyright law and incentivises human creativity
• the appointment of a Freelancer Commissioner to advocate for the needs and interests of freelance visual artists and creative workers across government departments

In addition, we have worked with a coalition of organisations from across the sector to develop a wider manifesto of policy recommendations to support the visual arts sector across education, studio and space provision, international exchange and intellectual property.

The new Labour Government – key appointments for the Visual Arts Sector

Now that Cabinet and Ministerial positions have been confirmed, we have been busy writing to newly appointed ministers, highlighting the challenges facing visual artists and how the government can better support them. Key appointments include:

Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS):

• Lisa Nandy MP has been appointed Secretary of State for DCMS with overall responsibility for strategy and policy across the department.
• Sir Chris Bryant MP has been appointed Minister for Creative Industries, Arts, and Tourism within DCMS.

Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT): this department looks after intellectual property and artificial intelligence

• Peter Kyle MP has been appointed as Secretary of State for DSIT
• Alongside his role in DCMS, Sir Chris Bryant MP is also Minister of State for Data Protection and Telecoms at DSIT
• Feryal Clark MP is the Minister of State for AI and Digital Government; this role has responsibility for Intellectual Property.

Other relevant appointments:

• Jonathan Reynolds MP has been appointed as Secretary of State for Business and Trade – a key department in the ongoing development of the Artists’ Resale Right globally.

King’s Speech Debates

Following the King’s Speech, there were several debates in the House of Lords.

There was widespread support for the creative industries amongst members of the House of Lords, despite a lack of direct policy commitments on culture. In the debate on Creating Opportunities: Education, Early Years and Health Care  (Friday 19th July), Nicholas Trench, the Earl of Clancarty, urged the government to consider the recommendations laid out in our collective manifesto, to increase opportunities in the visual arts and better support visual artists, through the appointment of a Freelancer Commissioner.

On Monday 22nd July, members raised the opportunities and challenges presented by Artificial Intelligence, and its potential impacts on the economy and on society – including the Creative Industries. Several members emphasised the critical importance of balancing innovation with the provision of consent and remuneration for copyright holders.

DACS’ work with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO)

In June, DACS – along with the Authors Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS), British Equity Collective Society (BECS), PICSEL and Directors UK - wrote to the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum regarding proposed changes to Meta’ privacy policies, to allow training of its AI models on user-uploaded content.

This month, we met with the ICO, one of the members of the DRCF, where they informed us that Meta has currently paused and will review its controversial plans after the regulator raised users’ concerns with the company. The ICO is continuing to monitor the situation and DACS will keep working to ensure creators’ rights are considered in any future evaluations of Meta’s plans.

DACS has also engaged with the ICO’s consultation series on how aspects of data protection law should apply to the development and use of generative AI models.

We have submitted independent responses to relevant questions raised by the ICO and supported joint submissions by the British Copyright Council to each call for evidence in the consultation series.

Out and about

Campaign for the Arts report

We attended the launch of The State of the Arts in Parliament on Monday 22nd July – a new report by Campaign for the Arts and the University of Warwick. The report shows the decline in per-person funding from Local Government, DCMS and Arts Council England between 2009-10 and 2022-23, as well as decreases in arts education provision.

Lisa Nandy’s first speech as Culture Secretary

We attended a reception held by the Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy MP, at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester on 31 July. The event was Nandy’s maiden speech, and she emphasised the social and economic potential of DCMS sectors to drive national growth and renewal.