Artists Face Legal Setback in Generative AI Copyright Dispute

A US District judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by artists against generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as Midjourney and DeviantArt. 

As generative AI technology moves into the limelight, various artists and copyright owners have filed lawsuits against AI companies. Now, the US judge has passed his judgment in one of the first-of-its-kind lawsuits.

Judge Asks for Clarity From Artist

According to Reuters, US District Judge William Orrick asked the artist Sarah Andersen to file an amended complaint against the generative AI companies Midjourney and DeviantArt. The companies utilize Stability’s Stable Diffusion text-to-image technology.

Read more: How To Install Stable Diffusion on a Windows Computer

Judge Orrick believes that artists’ theory requires more clarity. Hence, the court filing explains:

“Plaintiffs will be required to amend to clarify their theory with respect to compressed copies of Training Images and to state facts in support of how Stable Diffusion – a program that is open source, at least in part – operates with respect to the Training Images.”

Sarah Andersen, Kelly McKernan, and Karla Ortiz filed a copyright infringement lawsuit, alleging that the companies used their artwork for training purposes. 

While the judge will allow Andersen to submit an amended complaint, he completely dismissed the lawsuit from the other two artists. The dismissal came as McKernan and Ortiz did not register their work with the copyright office.

Artists’ War Against AI

In 2023, discussions on AI technology, which was limited to just a few tech people, gained mainstream attention. The adoption happened as generative AI tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and text-to-image generators like as Midjourney came to the limelight.

The screenshot below shows the generative AI adoption in the workplace in the US. The marketing and advertising industries have utilized the technology maximum compared to other industries.

Read more: How To Use Demographic Targeting To Crush Crypto Advertising Campaigns

As generative AI attracted mainstream attention, artists became concerned that models utilized their work without their consent. Sarah Andersen is not the only artist to take generative AI companies to the court.

In September, BeInCrypto reported that some authors were suing OpenAI for copyright infringement. Also in the same month, other renowned authors filed a lawsuit against Meta, alleging that the company used their work to train its AI tool, LLaMA.

And the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) was on a strike for 146 days against the use of AI in Hollywood. The strike ended after it reached a tentative agreement, that promised new rules regarding the use of AI.

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