The Data (Use & Access) Bill has finally cleared both houses, despite a last-minute attempt by the Lords to introduce an amendment in the row over AI copyright, meaning it will now proceed to Royal Assent in the coming weeks and could become law before the summer recess.
The legislation, which started life under the previous Conservative Government as the Data & Digital Information Bill in August 2021, underwent extensive revision before falling at the last due to the 2024 general election.
On coming into power in July last year, the Labour Government soon re-introduced the reforms within weeks, with only minor tweeks, as the Data (Use & Access Bill).
Over the past 11 months, the Bill has been back and forth through both Houses of Parliament. Just last week, peers voted in favour of adding copyright protections to the Bill – the fourth time the Government had been challenged on the issue – as the proposed legislation continued to “ping pong” between the Lords and the Commons. There had even been fears that the deadlock could scupper the Bill entirely.
That was thrown out again, but the cause was taken up once more by Lord Berkeley of Knighton, but he withdrew his changes during the debate and the House of Lords accepted the Government amendments last night.
On LinkedIn, Mishcon de Reya LLP senior data protection specialist Jon Baines said: “It’s important to bear in mind that a lot of the core provisions will not take effect immediately, and there may be a period of several (or many) months, before they commence.
“It’s been a slog, and a very strong message has been given on the concerns in the artistic community about the misuse of copyright content to train AI, but we’re almost back to square one: the finally agreed Bill is not massively different to the one that was originally introduced.”
The DMA has yet to offically comment on the move, although its website is promoting a new suite of data protection templates, exclusive to DMA members, to help businesses “Do Data Right” in accordance with the DMA Code.
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