George R.R. Martin and other writers are suing the maker of ChatGPT for copyright infringement, arguing that generative AI poses a significant threat to authors.
George R.R. Martin and other writers are suing the maker of ChatGPT for copyright infringement, arguing that generative AI poses a significant threat to authors.
OpenAI Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged Copyright Infringement
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is facing yet another lawsuit, this time from the Authors Guild and prominent writers. The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York, alleges that OpenAI trained its language AI models using copyrighted works from authors such as George R.R. Martin and John Grisham, without obtaining proper consent. The Guild claims that this nonconsensual training allows the chatbot to generate texts that publishers would otherwise pay writers to create, potentially endangering writers’ ability to make a living.
The lawsuit states, “These algorithms are at the heart of Defendants’ massive commercial enterprise, and at the heart of these algorithms is systematic theft on a mass scale.” It seeks damages for the lost opportunity to license their works and a permanent injunction to prevent further harm.
The ability of ChatGPT to mimic the works of authors raises concerns for the publishing industry. The Authors Guild highlights its latest author income survey, which found that the median salary for a full-time author in 2022 was just over $20,000, with nearly half of authors earning less than the median. The Guild warns that generative AI poses a threat to the author profession.
In response to the lawsuit, OpenAI expressed its respect for the rights of writers and authors. The company stated that it has been working cooperatively with creators globally to understand and address their concerns about AI. OpenAI remains optimistic about finding mutually beneficial ways to work with creators in utilizing new technology within a rich content ecosystem.
This recent lawsuit is part of a series of legal disputes between writers and OpenAI regarding allegations of copyright infringement. The concerns raised by writers align with the ongoing strikes by Hollywood writers, fueled by fears that advanced AI technology may replace their jobs.
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Not only writers but also artists have come forward with lawsuits against AI companies. In January, a trio of artists sued Stability AI, Midjourney, and Deviant Art, accusing them of training their text-to-image AI generators on their art without permission. Getty Images also filed a lawsuit against Stability AI, claiming unlawful copying and processing of millions of copyrighted images.
While some publishers have negotiated licensing deals with OpenAI, granting the AI company permission to train ChatGPT on their archive of news stories, the Authors Guild emphasizes the need for writers to retain control over the use of their works by generative AI. The CEO of the Authors Guild, Mary Rasenberger, asserts that regurgitated culture cannot replace human art.
In conclusion, OpenAI is facing another lawsuit over allegations of copyright infringement. The lawsuit brought by the Authors Guild and prominent writers highlights the concern that nonconsensual training of language AI models could jeopardize the livelihood of authors. With ongoing disputes between creators and AI companies, it remains to be seen how the relationship between technology and creative industries will evolve in the future.
