# UK Rejects AI Data Mining Exception After… | Dynamoi News

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Dynamoi News UK Rejects AI Data Mining Exception After 95% Back Licensing New 'Statement of Progress' signals a hard shift against open-access model training, forcing startups to budget for legitimate data acquisition. Published December 16, 2025 Editor Trevor Loucks Editorial policy → The "Wild West" era of scraping British music to train algorithms is officially over. On December 16, 2025, the UK government released its Statement of Progress on Copyright and AI, delivering a decisive regulatory victory to rights holders that effectively kills the argument for open-access model training in the region. For two years, the tech sector has lobbied for a "Text and Data Mining" (TDM) exception—a legal loophole that would have allowed AI developers to ingest copyrighted music without permission or payment. The government has now firmly rejected that path, signaling that the future of British AI will be built on licensed, transparent datasets rather than scraped archives. The statistical landslide The government’s reversal wasn't subtle; it was driven by overwhelming data. The consultation results painted a picture of a unified creative sector and a tech industry unable to make a compelling public interest case. 95% of respondents supported a licensing-based environment. Only 3% backed the government's initial proposal for a broad TDM exception. This statistical rout made the initial 2022 proposal—which sought to allow mining for any purpose—politically toxic. The government has conceded that "extracting informational value" from songs constitutes a copyright-relevant act, validating the business models of major rights holders like Universal and Sony. A pricing reality check This shift has immediate balance sheet implications for the burgeoning AI music sector. Startups operating in London can no longer rely on the "fair use" defense that is currently being litigated in US courts. Consider Mirelo , which recently raised $41M in seed funding. Under a TDM exception, that capital could have been poured almost exclusively into engineering and user acquisition. Now, a significant tranche must be allocated to legal data acquisition. The "move fast and break things" model has hit a regulatory wall; the new model is "move carefully and pay for things." Industry vindication UK Music CEO Tom Kiehl didn’t mince words, calling the findings a "vindication" of the sector's aggressive lobbying efforts. With the UK music industry valued at roughly £8 billion, the government realized it was risking a proven economic engine to subsidize a speculative one. Key insight: The new framework moves beyond just permission; it prioritizes transparency . Rights holders will likely gain the ability to audit AI models to see if their catalogs were ingested during the training phase. Global regulatory drift This decision clarifies the UK's position on the global stage. While the US legal system is bogged down in high-stakes litigation (like UMG v. Anthropic ) to define the boundaries of fair use, the UK is legislating clarity. By rejecting TDM exceptions, the UK aligns itself closer to the European Union's AI Act—which mandates detailed summaries of training data—and away from the American "fair use" ambiguity. For global labels, this creates a transatlantic leverage point: they can now use the UK’s strict compliance standards as a baseline for global licensing deals. The strategist's playbook With the legal threat of non-consensual scraping diminished in the UK, rights holders should pivot from defense to offense. Audit your paper: Ensure management and recording contracts explicitly define "AI training" as a licensable right separate from streaming or sync. Prepare for transparency: Expect new tools mandated by Section 137 of the Data Act that will require AI firms to disclose their inputs. Labels need the technical infrastructure to verify these disclosures. Price the data: The government has confirmed music is data. The next challenge is establishing a rate card for training licenses that captures value without stifling the tools that artists actually want to use. Related stories Apple Bets $2B on "Silent" Audio Controls With Q.ai Acquisition February 3, 2026 Merlin and Pipeline Open $200M Cash Flow Tap for Indies January 27, 2026 Create Music Group Backs Nettwerk Buyout With $300M Injection February 6, 2026 Majors Supply Just 3.8% of New Music in 2025 Streaming Glut January 14, 2026 Latest News May 30, 2026 Warner Music Settles $24M Copyright Suit With Crumbl May 29, 2026 UMG Board Unanimously Rejects Bill Ackman’s $64B Takeover Bid May 29, 2026 Spotify Rolls Out $10.99 Basic Tier Amid $150M Royalties Dispute May 28, 2026 Sony Weaponizes 2024 AI Opt-Out in 61,000-Track Suno Lawsuit May 27, 2026 33 States Demand Ticketmaster Divestiture After Antitrust Verdict May 26, 2026 Spotify Shares Surge 16% on UMG Deal for Paid AI Remix Tools See pricing →