Amanda Harcourt: Championing Creators’ Rights in the AI Era
17 January 2025
Amanda Harcourt, Honorary Professor of Practice at UCL Faculty of Laws, and Member of the Institute of Brand and Innovation Law (IBIL) is interviewed by Lawdragon in 'Copyright, AI, and Advocating for Artists'

Professor Amanda Harcourt, Honorary Professor of Practice at the UCL Institute of Brand and Innovation Law (IBIL), has been interviewed by Lawdragon, the renowned US-based online law magazine. The interview, entitled 'Creatives, Copyrights, Contracts, and Secret Codes: How Amanda Harcourt Advocates for Artists', explores her distinguished career and seeks her perspectives on a number of pressing current issues that lie at the crossroads of law, creativity, and technology.
In the interview, Professor Harcourt emphasises the importance of protecting creators in the evolving digital age, particularly as artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming industries. She is particularly critical of the current unregulated use of music and art in training AI systems. Noting that creators are generally not compensated for use of their work, she warns
“As was the case with digital delivery, the approach of the tech barons seems to be based upon forgiveness, not permission.”
She also argues that existing copyright laws rightly require human authorship. AI-generated works should only enjoy copyright protection if they incorporate human contributions, emphasising “the licence money should be paid only to the human author, not the machine.”
The interview also traces Professor Harcourt's illustrious career, including how one of the biggest bands in the world, U2, became her first client, and the part that she played in the modernisation of collective management organisations (CMOs) in the UK. It also talks about her role at IBIL, and how she bridges the gap between copyright academics and the copyright industries. As part of this endeavour, Professor Harcourt will be chairing the IBIL Annual Privacy Lecture on 12 February and leading the IBIL Privacy and Data: Law and Practice Course, now in its ninth year, on 17 to 18 February 2025.
The full Lawdragon interview is available to read here.
Picture credit: John Gulliver