THIS week we are supporting a national campaign to send a strong message to the UK Government.
Make It Fair, as featured on page 11, is a fightback to protect the creative content that’s made every day in the UK, including the articles in our newspapers.
That’s because the Government is proposing to weaken copyright laws to allow Artificial Intelligence systems, usually owned by global big tech, to freely access any content they want, such as the stories and photos sourced and written here in Dumfries and Galloway by our own journalists.
Allowed to go ahead, it would mean generative AI models could snatch content from anywhere on the internet without permission, acknowledgement, or payment.
This poses an existential threat not just to local media but to all creative industries, including art, music, books and films.
So we’re collectively calling on the Government to scrap this unfair plan, which would legitimise content theft and have a devastating impact.
Here at DNG Media we work hard every week to find local stories that matter and we are proud that most of our articles are originals, sourced and verified by our trained reporters – not robots.
This country already has strong copyright laws in place, which are essential for a healthy democratic society and help ensure quality journalism. They don’t need breaking up, instead AI operators need to abide by them and work transparently.
We agree with Owen Meredith, CEO of News Media Association, who this week called for a guarantee of ‘proper financial reward’ from AI firms to ensure a sustainable future for both AI and the creative industries. He also pointed out: “There will be no AI innovation without the high-quality content that is the essential fuel for AI models.”
If you agree, please write to Dumfries and Galloway’s two MPs and call on them to back the country’s creativity.
