Copyright battle between human artists and artificial intelligence

Getty Images allege that AI tools like Midjourney and Stable Diffusion have been infringing artists rights.

AI users are now able to type in and request any image or data they wish to discover into an AI search engines, then AI models like DALL-E, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion will be able provide an image for the user within seconds. However, in doing so AI tools have been trained to use billions of images from the internet- including social media posts, Ecommerce sites, blogs, stock image archives and more.

Are the AI tools violating the creators’ copyrights in this process? Getty Images have commenced legal proceedings against Stable Diffusion for this sole reason. It is alleged that AI companies have copied millions of images and has “[chosen] to ignore viable licensing options and long-standing legal protections in pursuit of their stand-alone commercial interests.”

AI firms have refused these allegations and believe that their practice is covered by laws like US fair use doctrine. Nevertheless, many right proprietaries believe otherwise and argue that it constitutes to copyright violation.

Getty Images stated that they are not in fact seeking financial damages or wish to halt the development of AI art tools. They simply want to create a new legal status quo where Getty Images receive favourable licensing terms.

If you would like to discuss protection of your brand, please get in touch with the Trademarkroom team today.

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