March 2026
Content, Media and Technology
House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee publishes report on AI, copyright and the creative industries
On 6 March 2026, the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee published a report on generative AI, copyright and impacts on the creative industries, stating the copyright framework is not outdated but is undermined by unlicensed use and limited training-data transparency.
It recommended ruling out a new commercial text and data mining exception with an opt-out model, introducing protections against unauthorised digital replicas and harmful ‘in the style of’ outputs, and making transparency about AI training data a statutory obligation.
It supported a licensing-first market with open standards for rights reservation, data provenance and labelling, and prioritised sovereign AI models.
A media report said an AI Bill and copyright legislation are likely to be deferred, while Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 publications were due by 19 March 2026.
Find out more about our predictions for Copyright in 2026 from Dr Gregor Schmid and Louise Popple here.
EPRS publishes briefing on copyright and generative AI
On 2 March 2026, the European Parliament’s EPRS published an “At a Glance” briefing on an own-initiative report addressing copyright issues raised by generative AI training and outputs in the EU.
The briefing notes legal uncertainty under existing EU law, including around authorisation and compensation for use of copyright-protected works in training data and the application of the text and data mining exception in Directive (EU) 2019/790, as well as debates on whether AI-generated outputs can be protected by copyright and whether they can infringe reproduction rights.
It summarises recommendations for new and existing-rule implementation, including mandatory transparency on use of copyrighted works, improved bargaining power and remuneration for rights-holders, respect for rights-holders’ refusal to permit training use, and a coherent licensing and sector-based voluntary collective licensing framework supported by EUIPO.
It also summarises proposals for detailed crawling records, possible measures addressing diversion of press and news media traffic and revenue by general-purpose AI providers, and exploration of measures against non-consensual AI-generated imitations of individuals’ characteristics; a Parliament vote is expected during March 2026.
Find out more on Copyright in 2026 from Dr Gregor Schmid and Louise Popple here.
Government publishes Online Advertising Taskforce progress report and 2026 plans
On 17 March 2026, the government published a further report on the progress made by the Online Advertising Taskforce (OAT) in 2025 and its ambitions for 2026.
The report notes that the OAT achieved important milestones in improving standards and reducing online advertising harms, and in 2026 the various working groups will continue to improve trust, transparency and accountability in the online advertising supply chain.
The OAT's next steps for 2026 include the following:
- AI in advertising. The main aim is to increase visibility of the Advertising Association's Best Practice Guide for the responsible use of generative AI in advertising, which was published in February 2026. The AI working group will continue to monitor the impact of AI on advertising content and its effect on consumer trust, and influence discussions around AI labelling.
- Ad fraud and standards. A new working group will be established to focus on ad fraud and standards, co-chaired by the UK's Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and government (replacing the IAB's former Gold Standard working group). The new group aims to carry out a mapping exercise to identify the existing transparency standards and mechanisms that detect, disrupt and prevent malicious advertising from entering the supply chain, and from this identify any gaps.
- Influencer marketing. In 2026, there will be increased efforts to promote the ISBA and IMTB Influencer Code of Conduct, with the aim to identify sectors where signatories are under-represented, and working with platforms and content creators to increase awareness of the code of conduct.
- Intermediary and Platform Principles (IPP). The ASA will continue working with the largest social media companies and demand-side platforms to fully integrate the IPP framework into the UK's established advertising self-regulatory system. The plan is to introduce a fully integrated framework in the summer of 2026.
The report also notes that a pilot on information sharing between trusted partners in the online advertising ecosystem will be reviewed. Additionally, the Age Assurance working group, which aims to reduce children's exposure to advertising for age-restricted products, is considering how a study by Nielsen into ad targeting compliance can be used as a basis for future work.
For more on legal, regulatory and other developments in online advertising, see our overview from Louise Popple and Emma Sims, here.
