The consultation is welcomed, timely, and considers the crucial areas for providing legal clarity to authors and AI tool creators, whilst also potentially driving growth for the UK.

The current UK copyright legislation is not fit for the developments that have been seen with the technology and therefore requires updating to reflect these changes.

There is a crucial need to balance the rights of creators and the development and use of generative AI tools within the specific UK context.

Our findings indicate that Option One would be the best for balancing these needs effectively.

Whilst we accept there will be practical challenges with licensing, collective opt-in licencing appears to offer a potential effective way forward for all interested parties.

There are other considerations that should be borne in mind by the IPO, such as transparency in outputs, data protection considerations around the use of personal data in the training of the tools, reproducibility, and the need for coordination with other relevant jurisdictions and bodies that are also exploring questions around generative AI usage.