Hollywood Responds to OpenAI & Google Challenges to Copyright

Hundreds of entertainment industry creatives have signed on to a new open letter issued in response to recent submissions from OpenAI and Google (read here and here) claiming that U.S. law allows, or should allow, AI companies to train their programs on copyrighted works without the permission of or compensation to the copyright owners.

the letter has been submitted to the White House Office of Science and Technology (OSTP) for the U.S. AI Action Plan.

“America’s arts and entertainment industry supports over 2.3M American jobs with over $229Bn in wages annually, while providing the foundation for American democratic influence and soft power abroad. But AI companies are asking to undermine this economic and cultural strength by weakening copyright protections for the films, television series, artworks, writing, music, and voices used to train AI models at the core of multi-billion dollar corporate valuations,” the letter reads.

“Make no mistake: this issue goes well beyond the entertainment industry, as the right to train AI on all copyright-protected content impacts all of America’s knowledge industries.”

The prominent figures in film, television and music who have signed the letter include Guillermo del Toro (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio), Phil Lord & Chris Miller (The LEGO Movie, Clone High), Paul McCartney, Ava Duvernay, Aubrey Plaza, Ron Howard, Taika Waititi, Cynthia Erivo and many, many more.

You can read the full statement and list of signatories here.