UKIE has partnered with law firm Sheridans to provide an AI Compliance and Accreditation Service, enabling studios across the UK games industry to use AI lawfully and responsibly.
The AI Compliance and Accreditation Service includes a four-step process that culminates in the UKIE Certification Mark. This can be used to demonstrate compliance and due diligence in pitches and funding rounds.
UKIE CEO Nick Poole tells GamesIndustry.biz that the aim with this service is to “give games businesses a practical route through what is a fast moving and increasingly important area, while establishing a consistent standard that the wider industry can recognise.”
“The vast majority of our members have told us they are experimenting with these tools in very different ways on a daily basis, but there is a common concern about understanding where the legal and commercial risks sit and being able to demonstrate that they have taken those risks seriously.”
“Games businesses need something practical that looks at their own tools and working practices, helps them put the right processes in place and gives publishers, investors and other partners confidence that there is a considered approach behind their use of AI.”
Sheridans partner Anna Poulter-Jones adds: “Given the near-constant shifting of laws and broader public policy around AI, it is sensible to keep a studio’s policy under review.”
“Part of the service includes a review of a studio’s existing policy, for example for studios that already have a policy but want to make sure that it holds up in the current legal climate. Or in other cases, where we have worked with a studio to create a policy from scratch, then if they want to come back for a review and refresh then we can certainly do that; for example if it’s been a couple of years and the law has moved on, and/or if the studio is considering a more substantial change in how they use AI.”
Poulter-Jones has also outlined key areas where the evolving AI legal landscape impacts game studios, which you can read here.
An AI compliance check and preparation of a new AI policy typically costs between £1,500 and £2,000 for UKIE members, and between £2,000 and £2,500 for non-members.
An existing AI policy review and ongoing compliance check costs between £500 and £750 for UKIE members, and between £750 and £1,000 for non-members.
Poole says UKIE partnered with Sheridans to create this framework as it was “important to work with people who understand both the law around AI and the realities of making and publishing games.”
“Sheridans has one of the longest established specialist games legal practices in the UK and already works extensively across intellectual property, publishing, regulation and emerging technologies including AI. They can look at the tools being used, the licences involved, whether AI-generated material reaches players and the processes already in place, and then help the business build an approach around that.”