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Hong Kong delays AI copyright opt-out bill and will publish guidelines first

The planned Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2025, originally targeted for LegCo submission in the first half of 2025, was removed from the legislature’s agenda last August.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Trade & Tariffs

Hong Kong authorities will delay a proposed legal amendment to protect copyrighted works from being used to train AI models, and will issue operational guidelines first, according to the South China Morning Post.

The Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2025 would have introduced an “opt-out” mechanism for text and data mining to support AI technology development.

The bill had been originally scheduled for submission to the Legislative Council in the first half of last year, but the item was removed from LegCo’s legislative agenda in August.

The opt-out plan faced criticism from copyright holders who said it would require significant effort to approach AI companies to check whether their work was used, while critics proposed switching to an “opt-in” mechanism.

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