Data (Use and Access) Bill CCLM: motion to disagree Lords Amendment 49B
297Ayes
168Noes
Carried · majority 129 · Government won182 did not vote
647 Members · Aye 297 · No 168 · DNV 182 · grey dots in centre are abstentions
Analysis
Commons
Commons
Parliament voted on 14 May 2025 to reject Lords Amendment 49B to the Data (Use and Access) Bill, a measure that would have required AI developers to disclose which copyright works they use to train their models. The motion to disagree with the Lords passed by 297 votes to 168, Division 200. The amendment would have given creators transparency over whether their work was being scraped by AI developers without permission or payment. By rejecting it, Parliament cleared the way for the government's preferred approach: handling AI copyright issues through separate working groups rather than placing requirements on the face of the Bill. The decision leaves creators, including writers, musicians, and visual artists, without a statutory right to know whether their work has been used to train AI systems. The vote divided almost entirely along government-versus-opposition lines. Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs provided all 297 ayes, with only one Labour MP voting against the government. Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Reform UK, the SNP, Plaid Cymru, and the Greens all voted no, totalling 168. The same Bill produced a string of related divisions, with similar majorities rejecting the Lords position at subsequent stages on 22 May, 3 June, and 10 June 2025, suggesting the Lords continued to press the point through ping-pong (the back-and-forth process between the two Houses when they disagree).
Voting Aye meant
Support rejecting the Lords transparency requirement, accepting the government's argument that AI copyright issues need further consultation before legislation
Voting No meant
Support the Lords amendment requiring AI developers to disclose their use of copyrighted works, protecting creators from undisclosed scraping of their content
Each row is one party. The stacked bar gives the within-party split of Aye / No / Absent; the columns on the right give the raw counts. The whip column shows the published party position — “Free vote” means the whip was formally removed for this division.
Party
Whip
Aye / No / Abs
Aye
No
Abs
Labour Party
Whipped Aye
264
1
96
Conservative and Unionist Party
Whipped No
0
90
26
Liberal Democrats
Whipped No
0
53
18
Labour and Co-operative Party
Whipped Aye
30
0
12
Independent
—
3
5
5
Scottish National Party
Whipped No
0
5
4
Reform UK
Whipped No
0
7
1
Sinn Féin
—
0
0
7
Democratic Unionist Party
—
0
1
4
Green Party of England and Wales
Whipped No
0
3
1
Plaid Cymru
Whipped No
0
4
0
Social Democratic and Labour Party
—
0
0
2
Your Party
—
0
1
1
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
—
0
0
1
Restore Britain
—
0
0
1
Speaker
—
0
0
1
Traditional Unionist Voice
—
0
0
1
Ulster Unionist Party
—
0
0
1
Source · Hansard · UK Parliament Votes API · whip status from announced positions; “free vote” indicates the whip was formally removed
Government Minister defending rejection of copyright transparency amendments, arguing the Bill is not the right vehicle and comprehensive work is needed across multiple policy areas before legislating on AI and copyright.Labour · Voted aye · Read full speech (8,437 words) →
Shadow Minister supporting Lords amendment 49B as a proportionate transparency measure, criticising the Government for creating panic in the creative sector through earlier consultation language on copyright opt-outs.Conservative · Voted no · Read full speech (1,402 words) →
Strongly supporting Lords amendment 49B, arguing the creative sector faces imminent threat from data scraping and transparency could be implemented immediately without waiting for technical solutions or impact assessments.SNP · Voted no · Read full speech (1,848 words) →
Supporting Lords amendment 49B, emphasising the £126 billion creative sector contribution to the economy and the threat of unprotected data scraping by large tech companies.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (728 words) →
Pressing the Minister on transparency and copyright protection, noting the Government's earlier messaging about opt-outs created panic in the creative sector, and calling for clarity on solutions.Conservative · Voted no · Read full speech (407 words) →
Accepting Minister's reassurance that scientific research exemptions will not enable blanket AI training, but advocating for transparent engagement with tech companies to develop appropriate technical solutions.Labour · Voted no_vote_recorded · Read full speech (744 words) →
Questioning whether the Bill will deliver on content credentials and digital fingerprinting to verify AI use, arguing technical standards should be part of the solution.Conservative · Voted no · Read full speech (161 words) →
Sources
Division dataUK Parliament Votes API
DebateHansard · Commons
Stance analysisAI analysis · Claude 4.x
LicenceOpen Parliament Licence v3.0