Tech firms should pay the creators whose work they use | Letter

Anthropic’s proposal (AI firm Anthropic to commit 5% of shares to fund for ‘public good’, 19 October) raises an important question: who should benefit from technological progress? Before pledging money for the public good, AI companies such as Anthropic should first pay the creators whose work they use.

Device manufacturers have a separate responsibility under the same principle: creators should share in the value their work generates. Smartphones, computers and other devices enable creative work to be copied and stored, yet UK creators receive no private-copying payments, unlike their counterparts in more than 40 other countries.

The proposed Smart Fund would require manufacturers and importers to make modest contributions on devices used to copy or store creative work. It could raise up to £300m a year, providing creators with additional income and supporting skills, cultural programmes and affordable workspaces.

For creators on persistently low and falling incomes, these payments would make a tangible difference. Visual artists’ median annual earnings are just £12,500 – 47% lower in real terms than in 2010. Authors earn a median of only £7,000 from writing, down from £11,300, according to surveys published in 2022 and 2018 respectively. Audiovisual performers report median annual earnings from performing of £17,500. Yet it is creators’ work that attracts people to technology, sustains their engagement and drives innovation. Those creators should share in the value their work helps generate, so they can continue creating and powering that cycle. The government should turn this principle into action by introducing the Smart Fund.
Barbara Hayes
Chief executive, Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS)
Tayyiba Nasser
Chief executive, British Equity Collecting Society (BECS)
Christian Zimmermann
Chief executive, Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS)
Paul Seheult
Chief executive, PICSEL