pocket the uk government looks to rewrite copyright rules for al training — we hearfrom a leading campaigner on why she thinks it's a bad idea. weighing up the numbers — wage growth in the uk accelerates unexpectedly ahead of a key bank of england meeting. hello, wolverhampton! from "oh no, it isnt"... ..to "oh, yes, it is!"

the uk's festive favourite — pantomime — is back with a bang. welcome to business today, i'm ben thompson. we start with the growing debate over whether generative ai is a threat or an opportunity for creative industries. today the uk government have launched a consulation on its plans to update copyright laws for the ai age. some creatives embrace ai but many are concerned about the way their work might be used without their consent. over 37,000 people — including big names in terms of actors and musicians — have signed a petition calling for a ban on using human art to train artificial intelligence without permission. i'm joined now by beeban kidron — baroness kidron — a crossbench peer campaigning to protect artists and creatives rights. we laid out some of the proposals, so what do you make of the plans? do they go far

enough? of the plans? do they go far enou~h? , of the plans? do they go far enough?— of the plans? do they go far enou~h? , ., enough? the first thing to say, it is notjust — enough? the first thing to say, it is not just whether _ enough? the first thing to say, it is not just whether ai - enough? the first thing to say, it is not just whether ai is - it is notjust whether ai is good or bad, you should be good for everyone, but you cannot build something new on the work of other people and not expect to pay for it, it is like building something without paying for the raw material, so the first thing to say, creative communities are normally early adopters of technology, and we would collectively like to have a relationship with al that is respectful and respectful of the fact that creative people make something from nothing. they imagine things and write things and draw things and do things and draw things and do things in the world that bring i°y things in the world that bring joy and blink 126 billion to the uk economy and provide 2.4 millionjobs —— and a brain. that is what is under threat if the government gets a run —— and bring 126 billion to the uk

economy. and bring 126 billion to the uk econom . . and bring 126 billion to the uk economy-— and bring 126 billion to the uk econom . . ~ ., ., ., economy. had we know what to -a an economy. had we know what to pay an artist — economy. had we know what to pay an artist that _ economy. had we know what to pay an artist that then - economy. had we know what to pay an artist that then trains i pay an artist that then trains the ai and can pay an artist that then trains the aland can take it and run with itand the aland can take it and run with it and maybe continue creating things in future based on the original source material?— on the original source material? ., . ~', on the original source material? ., . ., material? one of the tricks of the tech sector— material? one of the tricks of the tech sector is _ material? one of the tricks of the tech sector is to - material? one of the tricks of the tech sector is to pretend l the tech sector is to pretend it is new and we have never been here before, but before i went into parliament, i was a movie director and you negotiate your price and if you are a top dog you get a lot of money but if you are a minnow you get much less. but there are ways and we have laws and i'm putting forward amendments tomorrow that would make the laws operable because at the moment we have got scrapers who do not say, they don't have names and they don't have material, they build their wealth on the back of the work of people who have spent decades, and i would say to people listening, it's notjust about this generation of

artists, new mentioned at some big names, paul mccartney, he came out in support, margaret drabble, kate bush, massive names, because what they understand is that the careers they have had on the lives they have had would simply not be possible if they had not been paid —— and the lives they have had. that is an awful lot of money and a lot ofjoy and i have to say this is theft at scale. �* , ., ,., have to say this is theft at scale. �* , ., ., scale. aside from the debate on how to decide _ scale. aside from the debate on how to decide whether - scale. aside from the debate on how to decide whether it - scale. aside from the debate on how to decide whether it is - scale. aside from the debate on how to decide whether it is a - how to decide whether it is a threat or an opportunity, it strikes me that clarity would be helpful and if everybody knows where they stand we can build an industry of creatives and of ai that know the rules they are playing by? absolutely. this is why i think the government consultation is mystifying. a lot of creative

organisations and musicians from some of the biggest brands in the world have used... they are pretending that we don't have copyright rules and they are watering down the rights of individual artists and they have this new word reserved right, and for anybody who understands what is going on that means opt out, what they are saying is that artists have to actively opt out of the system in order not to be scraped. that is not a fair system. it is a bit like saying to a shopkeeper, you have got to a shopkeeper, you have got to have a line on the doors and you have got to pay, ridiculous. . ,. ., ridiculous. fascinating. so many elements _ ridiculous. fascinating. so many elements to - ridiculous. fascinating. so many elements to this - ridiculous. fascinating. so- many elements to this debate. thanks forjoining us. baroness kidron there.

staying in the uk, wages have risen for the first time in more than a year, according to the latest official figures. regular pay grew at a faster—than—expected annual pace of 5.2% between august and0ctober. wages are continuing to increase faster than the price of goods. analysts say the latest figures have reduced the chances of the bank of england cutting interest rates when it meets this week. the current rate stands at 4.75%. these latest wage figures come on the day that businesses from jaguar land rover to amazon — as well as trade union leaders — are in parliament to discuss britain's new employment rights bill. earlier i spoke to thomas pugh from rsm uk — i put it to him these numbers could all be good news for workers. the stand out number today was this big rise in pay growth. now some of that is due to those public sector pay deals that were made a few months ago. they're starting to take effect now, but pay growth

in the private sector was also really strong. so like you said, that's really good news if you're a worker. but it does make things a bit trickierfor the bank of england because higher pay growth can lead to higher inflation. and i think it means we're not going to get a cut in interest rates on thursday. and that's the interesting implication here as well. and one would assume it's also not great if you're looking for a job because employers have had to raise salaries, so they'll be less willing to take on new staff if it's going to cost them more to do so. and that's why there's concern about the chancellor's plans for the jobs market. yeah. so we've got the employment data this morning as well. that was pretty strong. not much sign that firms stopped hiring before the budget. but of course the budget came right at the end of october. so we might see some weakness in november. and certainly all the unofficial data that we look at is suggesting there's going to be some weakness in thatjobs market. one problem is that the official data we get from the 0ns is really unreliable at the moment. the number of people that the 0ns is managing to collect the data from has essentially collapsed.

so it means we're flying a little bit blind on what's really happening with thatjobs market. and i wonder where this leaves the uk in terms of competitiveness, because we know right now we're on the brink of trade wars between europe and china and the united states. we're preparing for another trump presidency. where does that pay data leave the uk in terms of how competitive it is for businesses to operate here? yeah, i think it's worth just bringing in some of the other stuff that you talked about at the top there. you know, we've got this employment rights bill that's coming in — general strong support for the bill. it will help level the playing field. but it does raise costs for businesses, especially those smaller firms who employ a lot of flexible workers. so the risk, i think, is when you combine the employees rights bill with the big increase in minimum wage that we know is coming through with the increase in national insurance contributions, actually, you're imposing quite a big increase in costs

on employers, especially those smaller firms and especially those in sectors like leisure and hospitality. and that is going to make it very difficult for them to compete. some better news for employees where earnings are concerned in the uk there. to the us now where we've had the latest numbers out from the american consumer showing a healthy uptick in spending last month. retail spending rose 0.7% in november — more than analysts expected. the latest sign of strength from shoppers — another piece of the puzzle feeding into the us central bank — the federal reserve — ahead of their next interest rate decision due on wednesday. thier two day meeting kicking off today. ritika gupta is in new york for us. let's begin with the retail figures. american consumers defying the doom and gloom elsewhere and they are still willing to spend, so what is going on? it willing to spend, so what is going on?— going on? it was a healthy u tick going on? it was a healthy notick for— going on? it was a healthy uptick for the _ going on? it was a healthy

uptick for the month - going on? it was a healthy uptick for the month of. uptick for the month of november, underscoring what has been a pretty resilient consumer in a crucial holiday shopping period with black friday and cyber monday so that is part of it, so a lot of the strength is down to online shopping and also an back—up in car sales, shopping and also an back—up in carsales, but shopping and also an back—up in car sales, but there is a mixed nuanced report if you look in detail because there was a slowdown in grocery sales and restaurants, but the data coming just a day before the federal reserve decision, so maybe a strengthening the case as markets expect a quarter point cut to interest rates, but the uncertainty goes beyond that. investors will also watch for the economic policy projections which are released alongside the decision for more clues, and we had information thatis clues, and we had information that is not yet back to target, and strength with the consumer with the retail sales, so that is why investors would be watching out for this. positive contagion. — watching out for this. positive contagion. if _ watching out for this. positive contagion, if you _

watching out for this. positive contagion, if you could - watching out for this. positive contagion, if you could say i contagion, if you could say come up with what is happening on wall street, because we say they are linked to main street, but because the markets have done so well, consumers feel a bit more optimistic about going out and spending? i bit more optimistic about going out and spending?— out and spending? i think that would be right, _ out and spending? i think that would be right, and _ out and spending? i think that would be right, and it - out and spending? i think that would be right, and it has - out and spending? i think that | would be right, and it has been that crucial holiday shopping period, and we have seen this with consumers being tempted by some of the sales we have seen with black friday and cyber monday, so there is a resilient consumer and a pretty resilient labour market. one thing to mention, in september we saw economists very focused on the labour market deteriorating and less focus on inflation, and maybe that though will now begin to switch, that dynamic. thanks forjoining us. now to something of a uk speciality for the festive season — pantomime. the blend of well—loved fairy tales and plenty of song and dance — not to mention camp

humour — is a recipe that continues to sell. it's had a rough few years — with theatres closing because of the pandemic — but the business seems to be back with a bang. the pictures you are seeing now are from beauty and the beast at the wolverhampton grand theatre — its producer tim colegate says they are getting record numbers through the box office. the numbers that we've seen this year at the box office are unprecedented. i mean, the theatre here, beautiful wolverhampton grand, where i am, is in its 130th year this year, and we had our birthday the other day while panto was on, and in very nearly all of those years there's been a panto, but we have not seen numbers like this in recent years. people are really getting back into the swing of live entertainment, and pantomime is probably the most, um, pronounced art form, i guess, that we have in british theatre. it's such a distinctly british tradition, and people can enjoy it from three years old to 103 years old, children

and grandparents, and anywhere in between. it's the magic of live theatre, isn't it? in other news... china has extended visa—free entry for foreigners to ten days, in order to increase the number of overseas tourists. the regulation is effective immediately. until now, foreigners transiting china to a third country could stay for a maximum of six days without a visa. the new rule applies to more than 50 countries, including the united states. that is the end of business today. stay with us here on bbc news.