A new bill in the US would require AI companies to share any protected materials they use. A lot of artists and politicians are now calling for an investigation into how AI companies use protected works such as songs, books, movies, and art for their models. It’s looking into whether or not they are illegally using information to help build their AI models and companies.
The Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act is the name of the new bill that California Democrat Adam Schiff put forward. It would force companies to send a document that lists all their copyrighted materials to the Register of Copyrights before releasing new systems.
“AI has the disruptive potential to change our economy, our political system, and our everyday lives,” Schiff said. We need to find a balance between AI’s huge potential and its urgent need for moral rules and protections.
A lot of attention has been paid to whether or not these companies are using material in a way that is against the law to train and build their AI systems, and the government has been looking into the matter. They wouldn’t have to stop using protected materials because of this bill, but they would have to be open about the materials they use, which is something the company normally doesn’t do.
This bill has a lot of backing from companies in the entertainment business, like SAG-AFTRA and the Recording Industry Association of America.
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, national executive director and top negotiator for the Screen Actors Guild, said, “Everything made by AI comes from a human creative source in the end.” That’s why intellectual property, or original work made by people, needs to be protected.
A lot of companies and groups, like the New York Times, have sued OpenAI for copyright violations because they used protected materials to make their systems.
