Parliamentary ping-pong on DUAB continues



The last remaining issue to be agreed on the Data Use and Access Bill (DUAB), AI and copyright, has caused a continued ping-pong between the two Houses of Parliament.

Crossbench Peer, Beeban Kidron, who introduced the amendment that is being discussed, says we are damaging the rights of artists by handing their work to AI companies without artists receiving any payment.

The government recently held a consultation on Copyright and AI, and says it wishes to deal with this issue separately. It would now, due to pressure by the House of Lords, commit to delivering reports and impact assessments on the use of copyright work in the development of AI systems within nine rather than 12 months. Also, the Secretary of State would make a progress statement to Parliament about the impact assessment and reports within six months of Royal Assent.

Minister for Data Protection, Chris Bryant, however said at the House of Commons yesterday: “It [the amendment] requires the Government to produce a draft Bill on copyright and AI according to a specific timetable. It lays out elements that that Bill must include and determines how it should be considered by this House. I cannot think of any Bill in our history that has included such a clause, for very good reason. A central plank of parliamentary sovereignty is that no Parliament can bind its successor. That does not just mean from one Parliament to another; it means that one Session of Parliament cannot bind a future Session.”

The House of Lords is today again considering the Bill which is expected to pass this month.

Privacy Laws & Business 38th International Conference will have a session on DUAB on 9 July:

The UK’s new Data (Use and Access) Bill 2025: Risks and Opportunities

Speakers:

  • Robin Edwards, Leader, Data Protection Policy Team, DSIT
  • Elisabeth Stafford, Head of Data Protection Act Reform, DSIT
  • A speaker from the ICO

Chair: Professor David Erdos, Trinity Hall Fellow and Professor of Law & the Open Society, Cambridge University. Co-Director of Centre for IP & Information Law