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The makers of comic book heroes from Dennis the Menace to Judge Dredd are banding together to take on their biggest enemy yet — AI copycats.
A newly formed trade association, Comic Book UK, will bring together companies such as DC Thomson, which publishes the Beano, and Rebellion Entertainment, which makes 2000AD.
Other members will include The Phoenix Comic, which has published the Bunny vs Monkey series, graphic novel company Avery Hill Publishing and Fable, a digital comics platform.
The group will lobby for government and investor recognition that UK comics are an important export industry and develop valuable intellectual property.
One of the most immediate issues will be securing the industry’s future as the UK government considers proposals to relax copyright laws to train AI models.
The UK government is consulting on plans to allow AI companies to train their models for commercial purposes on a range of content in the UK — from comics to music, film and newspapers — unless companies seek a specific opt-out. The proposals have sparked weeks of protests from artists, musicians, film makers and media groups.
Comic Book UK says the industry produces hundreds of thousands of pages of comic book content every year and has extensive archives of historic content.
British publishers are behind some of the most recognisable comic characters in titles “enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of readers every week and graphic novels read by millions more each year”, it says. These characters are often used in films, TV programmes and video games.
Comic book content is particularly valuable for generative AI training because it is both highly visual and narrative driven, it argues.
The group warns that exemption proposals are not feasible in practice and will fail to provide rights holders with appropriate control over and means to seek remuneration for the use of their content and IP in AI training.
This will inhibit the growth of the comics industry, it said.
Mark Fuller, Comic Book UK chief executive, said: “Comics are one of the jewels in the crown of the UK’s creative industries and there is enormous untapped potential for further growth.”
Fuller also wants the comic industry to play a key part in the UK’s forthcoming 10-year industrial strategy. Creative industries minister Sir Chris Bryant said: “With an edgy history from Punch to 2000AD, British comics and cartooning entertain millions globally as part of our £11bn publishing sector, rightly earning their place and undeniable influence among the best of the UK’s creative industries.”
