Source · Select Committees · Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Recommendation 3
3
Deferred
Paragraph: 21
Establish a discrete AI regulation co-ordination unit within Whitehall to publish regular progress reports.
Recommendation
The Government has announced that it intends to take on a central support role to buttress the regime for AI regulation and provide cross-sector cohesion. The Government should establish a discrete AI regulation co-ordination unit within Whitehall to ensure coherent working and enable robust stakeholder engagement. This unit should publish regular reports to enable Parliament to fully consider the progress of the regime’s introduction and implementation.
Government Response Summary
The government's response discusses implementing and ratifying the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances and exploring stronger protections against the misuse of performers' likenesses, but does not address the recommendation to establish a discrete AI regulation co-ordination unit or publish regular reports.
Paragraph Reference:
21
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
The Government has committed to implementing and ratifying the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances. The Treaty provides intellectual property rights for audiovisual performances. These include performances given by actors, musicians, dancers and other performers that are incorporated in films, television programmes and other audiovisual recordings. The Treaty does not include specific provisions for audiovisual performers to protect their rights against, for example, ‘deepfakes’ as may be generated by AI. However, implementing the Treaty includes providing audiovisual performers with moral rights for their live performances and performances in audiovisual fixations. These are the rights for the performer to: • claim to be identified as the performer, except where omission is dictated by the manner of the use (‘the attribution right’) and • object to any distortion, mutilation or other modification of their performance that would be prejudicial to their honour or reputation, taking due account of the nature of audiovisual productions (‘the integrity right’). This right applies to modifications that are objectively prejudicial to the performer’s reputation in a substantial way. The Intellectual Property Office launched a public consultation on 14 September 2023 to build on an earlier call for views by gathering further evidence on options for implementation. The consultation included draft legislation for comment and closed on 9 November. Once the agreed legislation is in place, we expect the Treaty to come into force in the latter half of 2024. We accept the limitations of performer’s rights and the Beijing Treaty in dealing with the misuse of performers’ likenesses. The IPO will work with OAI, DCMS, and other interested departments to understand the legal environment and explore the case for stronger protections. We note that some industry initiatives are being introduced to address the challenges posed by generative AI, including deepfakes, such as the recent policy announcement by YouTube to implement stricter measures on AI- generated content. R&D and Innovation Recommendations