To explain what that is: UK Newspapers all printed the same cover page to demand money for copyright owners. They all joined together to make their demand. Newspapers like to market themselves as guardians of democracy. This is what it looks like when they really want something.
They are spreading a lot of deceptive talking points. So here’s some facts.
UK copyright law applies in the UK. If the owners’ demands are met, then British people will have to pay owners around the world to use AI. These international owners try to invoke national solidarity by talking about “protecting British creativity”. But that’s a lie. British creatives would have to pay extra for software like photoshop, while the money would go to owners around the world. For example, Reddit would get money for owning the copyrights to the users’ posts.
Copyright is intellectual property. Like any other property, it is typically owned by the corporation that employed the worker that made it. If the owners are able to lobby their way to some free money, normal workers will not see a cent. Even most authors won’t. The printers, secretaries, janitorial staff, and so on, without whom none of these newspapers would exist, certainly won’t.
These are daily newspapers. Yesterday’s news are proverbially worthless. All the labor that went into producing these newspapers, including the authors, has been paid off. If these corporations get their wish, they will be able to sell their intellectual property a second time. That’s pure profit.
If this was about supporting “British creativity”, then you could use taxes to subsidize, for example, rooms for band practice. You could give the BBC more money for journalism. If you’re worried about job losses, you’d be thinking about unemployment benefits. No one is asking for any of that. It’s all about money for property owners around the world.
SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 6 days ago
Well done to the papers for protesting about this. Especially the Sun and DM.
It’s sad that the government cares more about growth than about its constituents.
ohulancutash@feddit.uk 6 days ago
It’s a campaign by the News Media Association, a trade body representing the publishers of many national and local papers and news sites.
SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 5 days ago
Ah, that makes sense
General_Effort@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Why not? Because their owners already have enough money? I’m surprised by The Guardian, but that’s class solidarity for you. Owners of the world, united. Explains a lot about the state of the world.