Artificial Intelligence Platforms and Copyright Law: Is the Legal Belt Tightening?
A US court’s decision to allow a major lawsuit filed by several visual artists against generative artificial intelligence platforms to proceed could raise questions about how these platforms can operate without infringing copyright in the works used to train them.
The Lawsuit
About a year and a half ago, several visual artists filed a lawsuit against AI platforms, including Midjourney and Stability AI.
The plaintiffs claim these platforms copied their works in violation of their copyright and used them to train AI-based image-generation systems and build the infrastructure needed to develop their products.
The lawsuit was filed in a district court in California alongside several other legal proceedings initiated by copyright holders against AI platforms.
The court has now ruled that the plaintiffs’ copyright infringement allegations against the platform owners are sufficient for the lawsuit to proceed to the discovery stage.
Significance of the Ruling
The ruling and the continuation of the proceedings underscore the need for statutory regulation of AI platforms, which store enormous datasets and are amassing significant power, particularly in the area of copyright law.
The AI platforms’ main defense is that their use of copyrighted works is protected under the “fair use” doctrine in copyright law. They argue that copying copyrighted works to train their systems does not, in itself, establish liability for copyright infringement. The court’s assessment of this affirmative defense is likely to have significant implications for future copyright infringement cases against AI platforms.
On a practical level, the court’s ruling gives companies that rely on AI technology suppliers an incentive to conduct risk assessments and ensure that their contracts with these suppliers include commercial protections, such as indemnity provisions, to protect their own information and rights and those of their customers.
Copyright and AI Platforms in Israel
At the end of 2022, the Israeli Ministry of Justice published a position that addressed some aspects of this issue. According to the ministry, the use of copyrighted content for machine learning is generally covered by legally permitted uses and therefore does not constitute copyright infringement. This position reflects the aspiration to keep pace with AI system development and encourage beneficial competition in this evolving industry.
It is important to emphasize that this position has not yet been tested in court. Israel is only beginning to grapple with the legal challenges posed by artificial intelligence.
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Dr. Avishay Klein is a partner and head of the firm’s Privacy, Cyber and AI Department.
Adv. Ran Karmi is an associate in the firm’s Antitrust and Competition Department.