innovation – information labs

February 4, 2026

European Policymakers and AI: Je T’aime… EUx Non Plus

Brussels has a peculiar brand of rhythm, one that sounds suspiciously like Serge Gainsbourg’s Je t’aime… moi non plus. On one hand, the European Union beats the drum of “digital sovereignty,” professing its love for a homegrown AI ecosystem meant to rival Silicon Valley and Beijing. On the other hand, the European Parliament appears determined to build a regulatory cage so small the bird can’t even hatch, let alone fly. On January 28, 2026, the...

Blog Post, internet policy, technology

July 2, 2025

Ceci n’est pas un Level Playing Field

In Magritte’s famous painting, a pipe is not a pipe. In Brussels today, a “level playing field” is not a level playing field. It is a euphemism, a rebranding exercise that hides a significant power shift behind the veil of procedural fairness. And what is being proposed in the European Commission's Digital Networks Act (DNA) isn't some high-minded initiative to create balance; it's a calculated move that would upend the very foundations of how...

Blog Post, Net Neutrality, R&I, technology

May 19, 2025

The AI Training Debate: Why Focusing on Copyright Is Missing the Point

As public debates rage over AI’s impact on creative industries, one critical misunderstanding keeps surfacing: the assumption that AI models consume and store entire copyrighted works like a digital hoarder, waiting to reproduce them on command. This is not how AI training is supposed to work, not even close. In reality, AI systems do not memorise and regurgitate full songs, novels, or scientific papers. They break down large volumes of information into patterns, structures, and...

artificial intelligence, Blog Post, copyright

May 14, 2025

Science as Scapegoat? A Closer Look at the EUIPO’s Study on Generative AI and Copyright

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has recently published an extensive study on generative AI from a copyright perspective. Prepared by the University of Turin Law School and the Nexa Center for Internet & Society, the study provides a lengthy overview of the intersection between generative AI technologies and existing EU copyright law. The report acknowledges several key challenges: the absence of a common standard for how rights holders can express their reservations under...

artificial intelligence, Blog Post, copyright, R&I

May 9, 2025

Creative Gridlock: Are Rightsholders Still Fighting the Last War?

In Brussels, a recent closed-door roundtable offered a glimpse into the growing rift between AI developers and Europe’s creative industries. Hosted under Chatham House rules, the meeting centred around MEP Axel Voss’ upcoming own-initiative report for the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) on the opportunities and challenges of copyright and generative artificial intelligence. It quickly became clear that some rightsholders are less interested in building bridges than in guarding moats. The conversation was...

artificial intelligence, Blog Post, copyright, European policy

May 7, 2025

Read, Rethink, Reform: Why the UK Must Look Beyond Baseless Claims about Opt-Out in its AI & Copyright Thinking

What’s it About Contrary to claims iterated in responses to the UK AI & Copyright consultation by certain stakeholders that TDM opt-outs breach the Berne Convention, Martin Senftleben’s 2022 article, Compliance of National TDM Rules with International Copyright Law: An Overrated Nonissue?, reaches very different conclusions. IViR’s Director demonstrates that TDM activities are a new form of use not contemplated by traditional copyright law, and that EU countries have wide flexibility to design innovation-friendly rules. In...

artificial intelligence, Blog Post, European policy, technology

April 30, 2025

Echoes from the Archive: Why Preserving Our Past is Crucial to Building Our Future

In a quiet corner of the archival world, amid shelves lined with ageing reels, brittle shellac discs, and magnetic tapes, history is being rescued—one recording at a time. This isn’t happening in a vast museum or a national archive, but in a facility tucked away from the public eye: George Blood LP, one of the leading players in preserving endangered audiovisual media. What’s happening there is far more than a technical process. It’s a battle...

Blog Post, Music, Records, technology