Policy Download – November 2025

MPA to participate in Government Technical Working Groups on AI and Copyright

The MPA, along with 14 other technology and creative organisations, has been selected by the Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT), in collaboration with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), to join the Government’s AI and Copyright Technical Working Group on Supporter for Creatives.

Chief Executive Paul Clements will be exploring technical solutions for how watermarking and personality rights can be adapted within AI and copyright policy to ensure that the rights of rightsholders are robustly protected.

The MPA has engaged extensively with Ministers and civil servants throughout the AI and copyright consultation process, and our participation in these new expert working groups will help ensure that the voice of the music publishing industry remains strongly represented in formal discussions.

MPA submit evidence to the House of Lords enquiry

The MPA has submitted evidence to the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee as part of its ongoing inquiry into AI and Copyright. Launched earlier this month, the inquiry is examining several key themes:

• How can creative rightsholders meaningfully protect and enforce their rights in relation to AI systems
• Expectations for transparency and accountability from AI developers
• How licensing, attribution, and labelling tools could support a viable market for creative content

This work builds on the Committee’s earlier reports, including its 2024 review of large language models and generative AI, which called for far greater transparency from AI developers about the copyrighted material used in training datasets.

In our submission, the MPA outlined current licensing arrangements and cautioned that introducing a broad text-and-data-mining exception could undermine the market. We warned that such an approach risks devaluing creative work and reducing rights holder control over how their content is used.

Government makes a commitment to music education in schools

The Independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, commissioned by the Government, has now published its final report. In response, the Government has issued a statement broadly endorsing the Review’s recommendations and outlining its planned next steps and timelines.

As part of its response, the Government confirmed its commitment to reforming the music curriculum. This will include clarifying the curriculum’s purpose, aims and content to ensure that all pupils, regardless of socioeconomic background, develop a strong foundation in the three pillars of musical understanding, technical, constructive and expressive.

The MPA welcomes the Government’s recognition of the significant inequalities in music education. In our joint submission with UK Music, we emphasised that the curriculum review represented a critical opportunity to strengthen access to music education and reverse the long-term decline in provision. The revised curriculum is expected to be published by spring 2027, and we therefore anticipate a consultation process ahead of that date. We look forward to engaging with the next stages of this policy development.

MPA joins CEC (Cultural Exchange Coalition)

The MPA has joined several other UK cultural organisations to promote and strengthen UK–EU cultural collaboration in the post-Brexit landscape.

The Cultural Exchange Coalition brings together creative and cultural organisations from across the United Kingdom and the European Union, sharing a common ambition: to turn the inaugural UK–EU Summit’s Common Understanding commitment to support cultural exchange into meaningful action. Backed strongly by former Culture Minister Chris Bryant, the coalition aims to strengthen collaboration, remove barriers, including those related to EU touring and drive shared growth across the sector. The group will be convened by UK Music.