Legal News

The Evolution of AI and U.S. Copyright Law in 2024
Download PDF
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (No Ratings Yet)
Loading...

If 2023 marked the transformative influence of artificial intelligence (AI), 2024 is poised to be the year that U.S. copyright law undergoes a profound shift, particularly in response to the surge in generative AI and the widespread adoption of products from industry giants like Microsoft-backed OpenAI, Meta Platforms, Midjourney, and others.

The Copyright Conundrum

The proliferation of AI has triggered a wave of copyright cases, with writers, artists, and other copyright holders alleging that AI’s success is built upon their creative contributions. While judges have exhibited skepticism towards infringement claims based on AI-generated content, a more intricate and potentially multi-billion-dollar question remains unaddressed — whether AI companies violate copyrights on a massive scale by training their systems with vast amounts of data scraped from the internet.

Lawsuits Galore

In a series of proposed class-action lawsuits, various groups of authors, including luminaries such as John Grisham, George R.R. Martin, comedian Sarah Silverman, and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, have challenged tech companies over the use of their texts in AI training. Copyright holders have initiated similar legal actions in visual arts, music publishing, stock-photo provider Getty Images, and even the venerable New York Times.

  
What
Where


Want to know if you’re earning what you deserve? Find out with LawCrossing’s salary surveys.

Allegations and Demands

The crux of these lawsuits revolves around the contention that tech companies infringe copyrights by utilizing and reproducing materials without permission for AI training. Plaintiffs seek monetary damages and court orders preventing the misuse of their intellectual property.

The Defense Argument

Aware of the potential ramifications, tech companies have assembled formidable legal teams to counter these claims. Their defense hinges on the assertion that AI training is comparable to how humans learn new concepts, qualifying their use of materials as “fair use” under copyright law. They argue that, like a child learning language through everyday speech, AI models ‘learn’ by being exposed to massive amounts of text during training.

Get JD Journal in Your Mail

Subscribe to our FREE daily news alerts and get the latest updates on the most happening events in the legal, business, and celebrity world. You also get your daily dose of humor and entertainment!!




The Stakes for the AI Industry

AI proponents emphasize the potentially disastrous consequences for the industry should these legal battles go against them. Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz warns that imposing copyright liability on AI creators could either stifle or significantly impede the development of AI models.

The Copyright Owners’ Perspective

On the other side of the debate, copyright owners point to the immense success of AI programs like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and argue that these tech companies have the financial means to compensate for the use of copyrighted materials. Writers’ trade group, The Authors Guild, contends that licensing copyrighted materials for AI training should be costly, considering the substantial value derived from professionally created texts in developing large language models.



Stay up-to-date without the overwhelming noise. Subscribe to JDJournal for a curated selection of the most relevant legal news.

The Thomson Reuters Lawsuit

A pivotal case involving Thomson Reuters, the parent company of Reuters News, serves as a potential bellwether for AI copyright issues. Accusing Ross Intelligence of illegally copying thousands of legal “headnotes” from Thomson Reuters’ Westlaw platform, the ongoing lawsuit could set a crucial precedent for fair use and other aspects of AI copyright litigation.

Don’t be a silent ninja! Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.



 

RELEVANT JOBS

Assistant Attorney General - Child Support Enforcement

USA-IL-Joliet

The Child Support Enforcement Division of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office is seeking an...

Apply now

Attorney-Adviser (entry level)

USA-TX-Fort Worth

Many vacancies in the following locations: Anchorage, AK; El Segundo, CA; Washington,...

Apply now

Associate Attorney

USA-CA-Santa Ana

La Follette, Johnson, a prestigious litigation defense firm in business for over 50 years, specializ...

Apply now

Litigation Associate

USA-CA-Walnut Creek

Role Description This is a full-time remote role for a Litigation Associate. The Litigation Assoc...

Apply now

BCG FEATURED JOB

Locations:

Keyword:



Search Now

Education Law Attorney

USA-CA-El Segundo

El Segundo office of a BCG Attorney Search Top Ranked Law Firm seeks an education law attorney with ...

Apply Now

Education Law Attorney

USA-CA-Carlsbad

Carlsbad office of a BCG Attorney Search Top Ranked Law Firm seeks an education law attorney with 4-...

Apply Now

Education Law and Public Entity Attorney

USA-CA-El Segundo

El Segundo office of a BCG Attorney Search Top Ranked Law Firm seeks an education law and public ent...

Apply Now

Most Popular

SEARCH IN ARCHIVE

To Top