Transparency data

Copyright and AI technical working group: terms of reference

Published 15 December 2025

Participation in the technical workshops

Attendees will note that participation in the technical workshops constitutes acceptance of these terms of reference.

Principles

Our creative industries are one of this country’s greatest economic and cultural strengths and we are determined that they continue to thrive. Meanwhile, AI offers the most powerful lever we have for national renewal; it sits at the heart of the government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth

The government will continue to work on the full report and economic impact assessment required by the D(UA) Act. These documents will be laid before Parliament before 18 March 2026.

To deliver on these commitments, we are establishing an expert working group to inform the development of policy on copyright and AI.

The work undertaken as part of this working group will be underpinned by the following principles:

1: Rights holders are protected against unlawful and unfair use
2: Rights holders can be fairly rewarded for the economic value their work creates
3: AI developers can access high quality content

The working group’s role will be to help identify and develop potential policy interventions in the following areas:

• Theme A: Control and Technical Standards
  
• Theme B: Information and Transparency
  
• Theme C: Licensing
  
• Theme D: Wider Protections for Creators
  

Logistics

All stakeholders that attended the 3 roundtables held by the secretaries of state for Culture, Media, and Sport and for Science, Innovation and Technology will make up the plenary working group. See the list of roundtable attendees.

Between November and December 2025, the working group will move into its next phase: a series of 4 technical workshops, each aligned with one of the 4 themes outlined above.

Attendance will be selected by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and the Intellectual Property Office (IPO). Participants will be drawn from:

• the plenary group
• other stakeholders – where appropriate

The selection of participants will ensure technical expertise and balanced, cross-sector representation.

Each workshop will include approximately 15 experts, selected via an open application process. Participants will be chosen based on their technical knowledge and experience directly related to the workshop theme. Stakeholder organisations may nominate subject matter experts for consideration. These workshops are not the only opportunity to engage with government and are only one stage of the working group process. Stakeholders from the plenary group who are not selected for the initial workshops will still be invited to submit evidence and engage with officials and ministers through other forums.

We expect to run additional engagement sessions in 2026.

Chair

The secretaries of state for both DCMS and DSIT held initial meetings with plenary group members over the Summer 2025.

Technical workshops will be chaired by senior officials from within IPO, DSIT or DCMS.

Publication of materials

The government intends to publish some materials relating to the working group. These may include this terms of reference and a list of working group members. The government will not proactively publish the summary notes of these meetings, but government records relating to this work may be subject to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.

Discussions will be ‘Chatham House’ style. The identity of persons making contributions and offering comments should not be revealed to others outside the meeting.

Working group documents (and any views on them) will not published online or on social media in line with the ‘Chatham House’ approach.

Roundtables

See details of meetings and the attendees of ministerial-led and official-led roundtables.