The Writers Guild of America (WGA) recently clarified their stance on using artificial intelligence (A.I.) in the creation of screenplays and scripts. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) had a negotiation round with the WGA which seemed to suggest that A.I. tools such as ChatGPT could be used for scriptwriting, as long as writers get credited for the process.
Both the West and East branches of the WGA have recently posted a Twitter thread outlining their proposal to regulate the use of A.I. material in writing. Their main intention is to preserve working standards of writers such as compensation, residuals, separated rights, and credits. Per the proposal, A.I. cannot be used as source material, generate MBA-covered writing or act as a rewrite for MBA-covered work. Writers may not be assigned AI-generated material to adapt, nor may AI software generate covered literary material beyond research material.
The final thing to take away is that AI software is not eligible for copyright protection and it cannot sign a “Certificate of authorship.” In addition to this, the WGA also pointed out that plagiarism is a byproduct of the A.I. process, therefore must be carefully regulated. It remains to be seen how the AMPTP will respond and if the guilds’ deadline of May 1st will hold.
The Writers Guild of America is a labor union made up of more than 13,000 professional screenwriters, story editors, and other related freelance professionals. It was founded in 1933 and is currently the most prominent guild for screenwriters in the United States. The AMPTP is a trade group representing the interests of all major Hollywood studios, television networks, independent production companies, and above-the-line creative talent agencies. They have over 40 years of history representing the interests of their members. With this latest proposal by the WGA, both organizations stand to benefit from a clever and detailed regulation of the use of A.I. tools in the creation of writing material.
