LONDON, 18 March 2026 — The British government is considering requiring labels on artificial intelligence-generated content to help protect consumers from misinformation and deepfakes, as part of a broader review of copyright rules in the AI era.
In a statement, Liz Kendall said the government is examining several policy options aimed at addressing the growing legal and ethical challenges created by artificial intelligence while ensuring the technology sector continues to innovate.
Kendall said policymakers must strike the right balance between safeguarding the creative industries and enabling the AI sector to develop.
“We will take the time to get this right,” she said.
Copyright, Digital Replicas and Creator Rights
The next phase of the UK government’s work on AI and copyright will examine the risks posed by digital replicas created without consent, as well as mechanisms that would allow creators to better control how their work is used online.
The review will also consider ways to support independent creative organisations and ensure that artists and content creators are fairly compensated when their work is used in AI systems.
Regulators around the world have been grappling with how to regulate AI tools capable of generating text, images and video after being trained on large volumes of existing creative works.
Debate Over AI Training Data
According to Taylor Wessing copyright expert Louise Popple, the government has not ruled out introducing a broad exception that could allow AI developers to train models using copyrighted material.
“That’s a subtle difference of approach and could be interpreted to mean that everything is still up for grabs,” Popple said.
“It feels very much like the hard issues are being kicked down the road by the government.”
Britain previously proposed easing copyright rules in 2024 to allow AI developers to train models on lawfully accessed content, while giving creators the option to reserve their rights.
However, Kendall said that after consultations with creatives, technology companies, industry groups, unions and academics, the government no longer has a preferred policy option.
“We will help creatives control how their work is used. This sits at the heart of our ambition for creatives, including independent and smaller creative organisations, to be paid fairly,” she said.
AI Sector Growing Rapidly
Kendall also reiterated the government’s commitment to supporting the AI sector, noting that the industry is expanding 23 times faster than the rest of the British economy.
The UK currently hosts the world’s third-largest AI industry, behind only the United States and China.
