BBC and Sky bosses criticise plans to let AI firms use copyrighted material

Dana Strong, the group chief executive of Sky, said smaller companies would have limited resources to protect their intellectual property. Photograph: Larry Busacca/Getty Images

The BBC director general and the boss of Sky have criticised proposals to let tech firms use copyright-protected work without permission, as the government promised that artificial intelligence legislation will not destroy the £125bn creative sector.

The creative industry has said that original proposals published in a consultation in February to give AI companies access to creative works unless the copyright holder opts out would “scrape the value” out of the sector.