Whether the last government did this out of naivety, ignorance or an unwarranted hope that this would get them a favourable trade deal with the US, Andy Burnham’s government needs to apologise for this and commit to enforcing UK copyright law.

Ed Newton-Rex@ednewtonrex.bsky.social · last wk.

1. I can't believe the govt would actively want to invest in companies that use the copyrighted work of British creatives without permission. Doing so is (i) illegal in the UK, (ii) possibly illegal elsewhere, and (iii) clearly antithetical to protecting its citizens and treating them fairly. 7/10

AI companies like to argue in court that their models don’t financially harm the people whose work they train on. They think this strengthens their claims of fair use. That argument is surely now well and truly dead. /end

We Are Better Than This at the @societyofauthors.bsky.social's headquarter earlier this week to talk about artists’ rights, upcoming campaigns and meet other creative rights organisations. So much energy in the room, we can’t wait to work together! (Featuring Jane Porter’s iconic banner, of course)

The UK government refuses to release the register of interests of the Prime Minister's main adviser on AI, depsite her being an ex-OpenAI exec. There is obviously a possibility she owns OpenAI shares, and it is vital the public knows whether or not she does. Why will they not release it?

Yesterday we took a break from the Illustrators’ Fair and took our friend Jane’s iconic banner for a walk around London’s King’s Cross. Some businesses in the neighbourhood seemed like a nice backdrop for some commemorative photo.

An open petition asks the Government to introduce a statutory duty requiring AI developers to disclose the copyrighted works used to train generative AI in enough detail for creators to identify use of their work and enforce their rights. Please sign and share petition.parliament.uk/petitions/76...

Artists’ work has been stolen and our future earnings risk being undercut by mediocre surrogates generated with bots. This Saturday, 18th July, we’ll be at the Illustrators’ Fair in London to chat about our aims and answer all questions. Join us! Simona, Benji, Ged, Chris, Momoko.

Governments around the world are protecting Big Tech’s interests instead of the people. It doesn’t have to be like this. Together we can shape a better future. Join us. www.wearebetterthanthis.co.uk