AI Licence Tracker
Summary
The AI Licence Tracker monitors the emergence and development of commercial agreements made between creative content providers and AI developers. The project investigates how these ‘licensing markets’ create and distribute value among stakeholders, gathering data on – among other factors – the sectors affected and the nature of the content transacted with. In doing so, the tracker provides empirical data informing imminent legal and regulatory questions on AI policy and was initially developed as part of a CREATe response to the UK government’s consultation on the legal framework for AI and copyright.
Outputs:
Thomas, A. and Kretschmer, M. (2025), The AI licensing economy https://www.create.ac.uk/blog/2025/02/24/the-ai-licensing-economy/
Kretschmer, M. and Thomas, A. (2026), The AI Licensing economy: Empirical evidence on agreements between creative content firms and AI developers https://www.copyrightevidence.org/ai-licensing/
Kretschmer, M. et al. (2026) Copyright and AI in the UK: Opting-In or Opting-Out? GRUR International, Volume 74, Issue 11, pp 1055-1070
Citations and Impacts:
- UK Government (18 March 2026) Report on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-and-impact-assessment-on-copyright-and-artificial-intelligence/report-on-copyright-and-artificial-intelligence
- UK Government (18 March 2026) Copyright and Artificial Intelligence: Impact Assessment https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-and-impact-assessment-on-copyright-and-artificial-intelligence/copyright-and-artificial-intelligence-impact-assessment
- House of Lords, Communications and Digital Committee (24 February 2026) AI, copyright and the creative industries https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld5901/ldselect/ldcomm/267/267.pdf
- WPI Economics (14 May 2025), Driving UK Growth: The Role of Licensing Music in the Age of AI, report commissioned by British Phonographic Industry (BPI) (data cited on p. 7, note 3) https://www.bpi.co.uk/news/13235214
- Melissa Heikkilä (13 May 2025) Investors back start-ups aiding copyright deals to AI groups. The Financial Times