An open letter to Peter Kyle regarding the copyright & AI consultation
Requesting the government correct the record after misleading the public in the consultation document
If you’re in the UK, you can join the 250+ people who have signed this open letter here.
To: The Right Hon Peter Kyle MP, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, United Kingdom
30th May 2025
Dear Secretary of State,
We are writing to request that the government correct the record on misleading claims made in its recent consultation on copyright and artificial intelligence.
In the document introducing the consultation, the government repeatedly suggested that the question of how UK copyright law currently applies to AI training is uncertain. You personally reinforced this in the accompanying press release when you referred to “uncertainty about how copyright law applies to AI”. Other members of your department have repeated this claim many times in Parliament.
However, there is no uncertainty: commercial generative AI training on copyrighted work without a licence is illegal in the UK.
After much pushback from the creative sector, the government seems now to have accepted this: ministers who previously said the law was uncertain, including yourself, now say it is in fact clear.
While this is a welcome change of course, it does not go far enough. At no point has the government acknowledged that it misled the public in the consultation document, whether intentionally or not.
The content of government consultations matters. The public should be able to expect that the information presented to them by government, which inevitably affects their responses, is accurate. For the government to make a mistake so significant, on a point as critical as the current state of the very law the consultation may lead to the government changing, is surely unheard of.
A lot of people read the introduction to the consultation. These people were given inaccurate information on a topic that is of vital importance to many of them.
We hope you will publicly acknowledge and correct this error.
Yours sincerely,
Ed Newton-Rex
Joe Waldron, Illustrator, Self employed, Bristol
Dan Marriott, Artist, Kettering
Richard Keyworth, Composer
Georgy Kantor, university lecturer, University of Oxford, Oxford
Ruth Brickwood, Independent Digital Artist, Northampton
Joris de Man, Composer, Man Made Production LLP, Brighton
Katharine Bodsworth, Author, LONDON
Graham Lovelace, Editor & Publisher, Charting Gen AI
Emily Phillips, Songwriter, London
Thomas Hewitt Jones, Composer, Vivum Music Ltd., London
Richard Brown, Cashier, Nottingham
Peter Stead, London
Jack Williams, Xylographer, Zealous Alchemy, Sudbury
Vanessa Wells, Artist, Swanmore
Jacob Holmes, Illustrator
A.M.Farrier, Writer, London
Gareth Thomas, Composer
Andrea Mann, Screenwriter, Leeds
Ben Jones, Cardiff
Elisabeth Paice, Retired NHS doctor, London
Richard Nye, Composer
Maxwell Cooke, Songwriter, London
Alex Hill, Hove
James Goode, Store Manager, Cardiff
Stuart McLean, label owner, Dark Outside, Palnure
Lucy Ann Unwin, Children's Author, Brighton
David J Reading, Media Composer, DNA Piano Ltd, Haslemere
Rupert Uzzell, composer/music teacher, WM College, London
Michael Walters, Composer, N/A, Stockbridge
Neil Brand, Composer, London
Riley MacIntyre, Music Producer, London
Alison O'Neill, Translator, York
Adam Mosley, University Lecturer, Swansea
Isobel Starling, Author, Decent Fellows Press, York
Josh Clark, Southampton
Thomas Stone, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, University College London, London
Oliver Ryan, Visual Development Artist, Canterbury
Fenella Humphreys, Musician
Conway Sutton, Writer, Guildford
Philip Ralph, Writer, Machynlleth
Everlyn Cottingham, N/A, newcastle under lyme
Claire Batchelor, Composer, Freelance, Camberley
Anna Ganley, CEO, Society of Authors, London
Chloe L, Illustrator, Self Employed, Manchester
David Tate, Media Composer, Clonmel
Jenny Shippen, Copywriter, North Shields
Gary Franklin, Canvey Island
Louise Redshaw, Illustrator, Louise Redshaw Illustration, Todmorden
Ben Hayes, Audio Engineer, Ruthin
Jacob Croft, illustrator
Guy Thackeray, Composer, Reading
Ian Norsworthy, Chatham
Robert Quinney, University professor and musician, University of Oxford, Oxford
Glenn Sharp, Composer, Glenn sharp, Manchester
Nazyrjanas Vidra, Luton
Daisy Coole, Composer, London
Phil Moore, Composer, London
Gavin Thorpe, writer, Nottingham
Christopher Riley, Carer, Sevenoaks
Susan Murray, Writer, Penrith
Alex Birtles, Graphics artist, Oxford
Patrick Samphire, Author and Designer, Abergavenny
James Latimer, Writer, Swindon
Simon Ward, Artist & Music Producer, Funkydown Productions, Reigate
Trinity Clark, Illustration
Emily Saunders, composer, Independent, London
Keith Dickinson, Author, Hammersmyth Press, Manchester
William Morton, Retired, Retired, Newcastle upon Tyne
Jake Brennan, Freelance Creative Director, Brennan Creative, Cheshire
James Oswald, Writer, Cupar
Marco Gilot, Visual Effects Student, Bournemouth
Anthony Rouse, Delivery driver/ cartoonist, N/A, Aberdeen
Thomas Wrightson, Writer/Author, Llanfairpwyll
Robin Lovejoy, 3D Artist, Totnes
Jon New, Retired, Wellington
Rowan Lovejoy, Software Developer, Totnes
James Hannigan, Composer
Murray Christison, Engineer, Stirlinh
Stephen O'Gorman, Freelance copy editor, ABERDARE
Sarah Doyle, Bedford
Mrs Claire Ryder, Accountant, Basingstoke
Peter Clem, Unoccupied, None, Bristol
Matthew Owens, Musician, Manchester
John Ayliff, Game developer
Toby Wheatley, Composer, conductor, Stevenage
R. Charles, Published author, Cambridge University, Cambridge
Amy Balcomb, Composer, Amy Balcomb Music, Tring
Jess Nixon, Artist, Manchester
Martyn Waites, Writer, Exeter
Lorenzo Boni, Edinburgh
Chris Smith, Composer, The Barbershop Music Co/ PCAM, Taunton
Paul Cosgrove, Dundee
Simon Smith, Creative and Civil Servant, Essex
Mark Boardman, Illustrator, Bristol
Daniel Trachtenberg, Music producer, A Found Sound Limited, London
Mike Horner, Producer, Hastings
James Leighton, Writer, Cardiff
Stephen Alexander, Accountant, Southampton
Laura Purcell, Writer, Colchester
John P, Artist
Jacob Holmes-Brown, Script Editor, Freelance, London
Jacob Hamblin
Kevan Gallagher, Record producer, London
Samuel Pegg, Composer, Oxfordshire
Hasan Sivas, Swansea
Lesley Hall, London
Daniel Pounder, Director, London
Safira Adam, Food blogger, Leicester
anonymous
George Greek, designer, london
Patrick Nguyen, Graduate Artist, Belvedere
Nicholas Page, Content creator, Exeter
Emma Pike, Copyright consultant, London
Leonardo Varas, 3d Artist, Leo Varas Art, York
Paris, Imvestigator, Financial Ombudsman Service, Birmingham
Tommaso Levi Morenos, Artist, London
Adam robinson, Musician, Glasgow
David Lightfoot, Musician, London
Frederic Leymarie, Professor, Goldsmiths, University of London, London
Andrew Muir Wood, Researcher, Muir Wood & Co, London
Oliver Lallemant, Musician, London
Chris White, Composer, Loft8 productions Ltd, Horsham
Emma Windsor, Animator, Bristol
Sam Shemtob, Director, Name PR, London
Nick Miller, Muscian, Independent, Valparaiso
Benjamin Cumming, Communications Director, London
David Soponski
James Wyatt, Self employed musician, London
Felix Wilson, Game Composer, Self-employed, London
Tom Kincaid, Composer, Manchester
Matt Jones, Photographer, Photography by Matt Jones, London
Hugo Guerra, VFX Supervisor, Hugo's Desk, London
Johnny Patroklou, Concept Artist, Nottingham
Deborah Riley, Unemployed, Sunderland
Jan Li, Artist, Game Development, London
Adam Wren, Writer, Leftfield, London
Melanie Plumley, Musician, P H Music, Manchester
Dominic Sewell, Composer, London
Jason Wilcock, Graphic designer, Apogee Creative, Sheffield
Emma Brown, Musician, Nottingham
Tim cooper, Marketing, Copyright Licensing Agency, London
Simon Surtees-Goodall, Media composer, Maidenhead
Theofanis Anastasiadis, Architect, Fanis Anastasiadis Architecture, London
Joseph Fort, Senior Lecturer, King’s College London, London
Paul Carr, Musician, Birmingham
Mil Williams, Tech founder/Primary school autism/ADHD TA, Chester
Wendy carrig, Photographer, Association of Photographers, London
Peter Ashley, Retired, Shoreham-by-Sea
Dominic Young, CEO, Axate, london
Darren McNaney, Animator, Freelancer
Adam Shaw, Photographer / film maker, Melton Mowbray
Melanie Johnson, Music Consultant, PPL, London
Timothy Cowen, Barrister, Preiskel & Co LLP, London
Edward Firy, Photographer
Jake, Shellfish Processor, Norwich
Chris Dicker, CEO, Candr Media Group, London
James W Pollock, Technologist, Lux Aeterna, Bristol
Christian Gordon-Pullar, Lawyer, London
Cheryl Halmkan, Chatham
S Page, (retired), Cambridge
Sam Harper, Mix Engineer, London
Corin Buckeridge, Composer, London
Ashley Tilley, Visual Effects Artist, Untold Studios, London
Kim Undy, Creative, London
Michael Bannister, Software Engineer, London
James Lark, Composer and teacher, Westminster Abbey Choir School, London
Natalie Blake, Senior Graphic Manager, London
Neal Sawyer, Writer & Musician, Cannock
Susan Philcox
Huma Shah, Assistan Professor, London
Stephen Power, Freelance musician, Stephen Power Music, Abergavenny
Michael Priestman, Composer, London
Angela Mills Wade, CEO, European Publishers Council, Oxford
Paul Lewis, Composer, self, Bexhill on Sea
Robert Daniels-Dwyer, Data Consultant, Oxford
Dominic McGonigal, Composer, London
Edoardo Bombace, Composer, London
Calum Alexander Watt, Artist, Eastbourne
Richard Salter, Composer, Richard Salter Music, LONDON
Jacob Wootton, Optical Assistant, Chester
Chris Bastin, Games Artist and Animator, Self Employed, Kidderminster
William Miller, MD, Crash Media Group, London
Trevor Cook, London
Carolyn Dicker, Retired, United Airlines, London
Grant Woolley, Lead Software Quality Assurance Tester, Aardman Animations, Bristol
Steve Fletcher, Musician and Violin maker, Witham
Chris Nicolaides, Composer, London
Trevor Young, Creative Director, Tapocketa Ltd., Hertford
Robert Brettell, Artist, Kirkcaldy
Max Daines, Artist, Self employed, Liverpool
Michael Cryne, Composer, Liverpool
Dan Baboulene, Composer, Baboulene lmt, London
Nicholas Daniel, Musician, St Neots
Alexander Ord, Administrator, Darlington
Claudia Kozeny-Pelling, Translator and content writer, Translate Digital Marketing, Oxford
Zoe Anghelides
Jacob Sanders, Musician, Sanders, Jacob, Englewood
Brian Wilshere, Composer, Ptarmigan Music, Derbyshire
Z Johnson, Student, London
Scptt John Harrison, Streamer, Writer, Artist, Durham
Iain Bennett, Creative Alchemist, The Fifth Sector, Liverpool
Dids macdonald OBE, Chair and Co Founder, Anti Copying in Design ( ACID), London
Ray, 3D Artist, London
Karen Hamilton-Viall, Writer & Historical Interpreter, N/A, Sible Hedingham
Nora Manthey, Editor, Editorial Bureau, London
Lorenzo Castellarin, Composer / Orchestrator, Manchester
Theo Facey, Creative Media, DNEG, London
Jennie Jordan, Consultant, writer and coach, Self-employed, Nottingham
Adam Wasenczuk, scientist, self, southampton
Jason Chatwin, Composer, Self employed, Calne
Leroy Fanelli, worcester
Magnus Sutton, Volunteer, St. Oswald Hospice Charity store, North Shields
Graeme K Talboys, Writer, Ballantrae
Dafydd Owen, Didcot
Tim Seddon, Composer
Jan Rautio, Pianist, Rautio Piano Trio, London
Will Fox, Self-employed, Holywood
Tom Nield, Music Technology / Business Developmemt, London
Dr John Ridgeway-Wood, Musician, York
Dean, Liverpool
Nicholas Robinson, Chairman, Future Talent Music Charity, London
Mike Batt, Singer/songwriter, N/A, london
Alison Moncrieff-Kelly, Musician, Bromley
Lance R B Phillips, Doncaster
Anna Kenyon, PR consultant and singer, London
Samuel Griffin, Author, Edinburgh
Chris Hutchings, Composer, Choirs for Climate, Edinburgh
Martyn Leesworth, Listings Executive, Bristol
McKenzie Ellis, Digital Concept Artist, Worksop
Gary Spencer Millidge, Artist & writer, Abiogenesis Press, Leigh-on-Sea
James Sewell, Retired
Belinda Piec, Graphic Designer, Fiik Design Ltd, London
Guy Warley, Artist, Lo-Fi Games, Bristol
Anthony Marks, Musician / writer, Carlisle
Lincoln Barrett, Music producer, Cardiff
Matthew Jones, Composer, Cambridge
Mark Adams
Liam Rice, Composer - Film&TV, London
Alex MCLACHLAN, Burnley
Garry DW Judd, Composer, Much Hadham
Adam Cresswell, London
Jorge Puig, Composer, Visiting Lecturer RCM, London
Natalie Chen, Designer
Gary Meek, Composer, RYE
Andrew Robinson, Music teacher, Durham
Marlene Greenhalgh, Designer inventor, Ammique Ltd, Bath
Samir Bhamra, Director, Phizzical, Leicester
Seth Woolf, Artist Designer Maker, Bristol
Gary R, Engineer, London
Chris Lynch, IT Director, Cardiff
Nathan Alderson, Senior Artist, Derby
A G, Comic Artist, Kirkwall
Gavin Greenaway, composer, Weybridge
Christopher Stagg, NHS Manager