NUJ submits evidence on AI licensing and copyright in journalism

The NUJ has responded to the Department for Culture, Media & Sport’s call for evidence on AI licensing and copyright in creative industries.

In the submission, the union highlighted how the unregulated deployment of AI in journalism threatens journalists’ jobs, pay and the future of the news industry.  

The NUJ urges the government to: 

• Introduce comprehensive legislation and regulatory oversight to protect workers’ rights and regulate AI. 

• Enforce existing copyright and intellectual property laws to allow creators to seek compensation for unauthorised theft of their work. 

• Implement a simple opt-in mechanism, either for individuals or as part of collective licencing, revocable by the creator at any time. 

• Enforce a 6% windfall tax on the tech giants who profit from publishing news and pillaging editorial content, to sustain funding for journalism. 

The submission raises members' calls for legislation, regulation and enforcement, noting the considerable impacts of increased AI usage on newsrooms, freelances and photographers. The union has also expressed concern that AI-generated content continues to produce fabricated information, quotes, and attributions, severing the link between authorship and accountability, while contributing to declining public trust.

While the NUJ recognises the potential to use AI within journalism as an assistive tool with human oversight, urgent government intervention is crucial to block monopolistic tech firms from dictating industry practice and workers’ employment opportunities. Journalists must have control over their work, how it is used and what they are paid. 

You can real the full submission on the NUJ website. 

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