Industry leaders from bedding, furniture, toy and interior design sectors met recently at a joint event hosted by Robert Lands of ACID legal affiliate, Howard Kennedy, to discuss the intellectual property (IP) and artificial intelligence (AI) issues shaping the future of design, employment and innovation.
Opening the event, ACID chairman and co-founder Dids Macdonald OBE highlighted the long-awaited UK Design Consultation, for which ACID has campaigned for more than a decade. Dids stressed concerns regarding the current framework, stating: “The current framework remains too cumbersome for designers and I question how AI and data mining will impact creators’ rights, transparency and protection against infringement on online marketplaces”.
Robert Lands examined the rapidly evolving legal landscape surrounding AI and IP, including the UK Government’s recent Copyright and AI report, the implications of data mining, and significant cases such as Getty v Stability AI and Disney & Universal v Midjourney.
He emphasised the importance of transparency and labelling in future AI legislation: “The principles that should underpin future AI Legislation include transparency (this is about being transparent about what has been used to train the AI model) and labelling – making it clear when AI has been used to create a product. Although this can be difficult to determine, as AI can be used to create an output to varying extents”.
Pictured (from left): Phil Spademan, MD, British Furniture Association (BFA); Liz Bell, president, British Institute of Interior Design (BIID); Robert Lands, partner and head of IP and commercial, Howard Kennedy LLP; Alexandra Mizzi, legal director, Howard Kennedy LLP; Mark McCormack, MD, Talking Tables; Dids Macdonald OBE, ACID; Jessica Alexander, master, The Furniture Makers’ Company; and Sophie Cooney, founder, Sophie Cooney Runners
