The consultation, which closed on 25th February 2025, invited perspectives on how the UK’s legal framework can best support both the creative industries and the AI technology sector—two major drivers of UK economic growth. The outcome of this process will likely shape the future of AI and copyright law in the UK, with significant implications for innovation, content ownership, and intellectual property rights. 

As a leading multidisciplinary research centre exploring models for the future Digital Economy, DECaDE investigates new ways to apply provenance technologies to enhance transparency, authenticity, and value creation in the decentralised creative economy. DECaDE works closely with industry to develop robust provenance technologies that help establish authenticity and ownership of content.  Another innovation is the Ownership, Rights, and Attribution (ORA) framework, co-developed with its partners to enable rights management and fair compensation for digital content. Built upon the C2PA open standard, ORA allows creators to attach copyright and AI training opt-out signals to their work, while also enabling automated royalty payments for reuse, including in AI model training.   

Professor John Collomosse, Director of DECaDE, commented; “The UK has a unique opportunity to shape AI and Copyright policy that both protects creators and drives innovation. By adopting open standards and decentralized technologies, we can help ensure a fairer digital ecosystem where content provenance and creator rights are respected, and new models that recognize and reward creator contribution to help accelerate AI research and development.” 

Key Recommendations from DECaDE’s Response: 

• Decentralized Compensation Models: Current licensing frameworks do not fully address equitable AI-driven reuse of creative content. Emerging content provenance technologies provide a model for automated attribution and payment, ensuring creators are fairly compensated for data they have consented for use in AI model training. 

• DECaDE supports a data mining (opt-out) exception which allows right holders to reserve their rights, supported by transparency measures. This best balances innovation opportunities and rightsholder concerns, ensuring that the UK remains an attractive location for AI research and development while respecting the interests of creators. 

• Granular Opt-Out for AI Usage.  Unlike the broad opt-out mechanisms in the EU, the UK should implement a more granular approach that allows rightsholders to specify which AI uses (e.g., generative model training vs. search/recommendation) they wish to permit or prohibit.   

• Regulatory Support Without Overreach. The UK government should mandate the use of open standards for AI opt-out and provenance while avoiding rigid technology prescriptions. A clear regulatory framework would support compliance without restricting innovation.  Open and well adopted standards, such as the C2PA, could be leveraged to ensure interoperable machine-readable indicators that scale.   

• Context-Aware AI Labelling: Rather than one-size-fits-all mandatory labelling, DECaDE recommends a context-dependent approach—for example, requiring AI-generated content labels on social media and news platforms while allowing more flexibility in creative industries. 

• Persistent and Tamper-Resistant AI Labels: AI labels should be machine-readable, embedded within provenance metadata, and resistant to removal. Government incentives should encourage adoption by major platforms, ensuring AI-generated content is clearly distinguishable without undermining its legitimate use in creative and commercial applications. 

Access the Full Response: 

About DECaDE: 

DECaDE is the UKRI Centre for the Decentralised Digital Economy, bringing together expertise in AI, Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), and cybersecurity, alongside business, law, and human-centred design. The centre collaborates with over 30 commercial partners, including Adobe and the BBC, and works closely with policymakers, including the Cabinet Office and Scottish Government. 

For further information or press enquiries please contact decade@surrey.ac.uk