The authors wish to thank Joshua Saunders for his contributions to this post.

In February 2025 we reported on the UK government consultation on potential changes to UK copyright legislation in light of AI, Clock is Ticking for Responses to UK Government Consultation on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence | Global IP & Technology Law Blog. That consultation invited interested parties to submit their views on four potential options under consideration, those options range from “option 0”, simply doing nothing and leaving UK copyright legislation in its currently uncertain state when it comes to the use of copyright materials to train AI models, through to options which would either require specific consent from rights holders in all cases (“option 1”) or allow consent to be assumed by AI developers unless a rights holder objects, subject to developers being transparent about what materials have been used in training (“option 3”).

When inviting responses, the government indicated its preferred approach was option 3 in order to strike a balance between both the interests of rights holders and AI developers. However, many high-profile rights holders disagreed with that view and engaged in a well-coordinated campaign against any change which might result in their work being used without permission to train AI models.

The success of that campaign to date is reflected in the progress update on the consultation published by government in December 2025, Copyright and artificial intelligence statement of progress under Section 137 Data (Use and Access) Act – GOV.UK.  The publication  has revealed that over 11,500 responses were received (an usually high number) and that of the circa 10,000 responses submitted via the government’s online “Citizen Space” portal, 88% of those supported option 1, with more of those respondents supporting option 0 of simply doing nothing (7%) than the government’s preferred option 3 which was supported by a mere 3% of those respondents.