UK Withdraws Plans For Broader Text And Data Mining (TDM) Copyright And Database Right Exception

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Author: Ms Rachel Montagnon and Sungmin Cho
• Law Firm: Herbert Smith Freehills
• Published date: 07 March 2023

The UK Minister for Science, Research and Innovation has stated in Parliament that the UK Government will not be proceeding with an extension to the UK's text and data mining exception that would have allowed, to allow much broader access to materials needed for machine learning and to train AI systems, which had been proposed in 2022 following the UK Government's consultation on changes to IP legislation that might be necessitated by the advent of AI. This means that the only exception for TDM will remain its use for non-commercial purposes, which in turn may mean that AI developers are more cautious about doing R&D work in the UK than they might have been if the broader exception had been pursued.

What is text and data mining?

Text and data mining (TDM) typically refers to the use of computational techniques to analyse large amounts of information to identify patterns and trends. Data mining systems work by copying works to extract and analyse the data they contain. However, unless permitted under a licence or an exception (or the material is out of copyright term protection), making such copies can constitute copyright or database right infringement.

Consultation on AI and IP

In 2022, the UK Government's Intellectual Property Office (IPO) published its response to its consultation on whether changes to patent and copyright legislation might be required to better protect technology created by artificial intelligence.

One of the three specific areas considered...