With all the talk about AI, one might think the problem of old-school media piracy has abated, but this week, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing entitled Digital Copyright Piracy: Protecting American Consumers, Workers, and Creators. Although much of the conversation was familiar territory (i.e., the economic value of the creative industries and the cost of piracy), the legislative ...
In my last post, I focused on the hypothetical fair use defense of generative AI under the principles articulated in the Google Books decision of 2014. In this post, I want to address another claim that has arisen—both on social media, and in comments to the Copyright Office—namely that generative AI companies should be shielded against secondary liability for copyright ...
After the Supreme Court’s decision in AWF v. Goldsmith restored what many of us view as common sense to the fair use doctrine of transformativeness, the flurry of litigation against AI developers will test the same principle in a different light. As discussed on this blog and elsewhere, caselaw has produced two frameworks for considering whether the “purpose and character” of ...
In my book, published in 2020, I speculated about a biopic made with an AI-generated likeness of Carrie Fisher; and this week, Variety reports that a motion picture about Edith Piaf is now in development that will use AI-generated likenesses of the famed torch singer. So, now that the hypothetical is reality, what are the considerations beyond the obvious loss ...
As reported by Insider last week, the Andreessen Horowitz VC firm a16z, complains that potential copyright liability for AI developers could harm the interest of their investors. “Imposing the cost of actual or potential copyright liability on the creators of AI models will either kill or significantly hamper their development,” they state, as quoted by Kali Hays. Sympathy for the ...
