When considering the potential of copyright law to keep generative AIs, such as ChatGPT, from taking over our earning powers, one of the first questions that may come to mind is ‘Will copyright law be powerful enough to protect us from these AIs?’ To get to the heart of the question, it’s helpful to relate generative AI to H.G. Wells’ ‘The War of the Worlds’. In the novel, Martians possess superior military technology and invade Earth, with the consequence of Earth’s cities slowly being destroyed. It is only when Earth’s germs prove to be a problem in the Martian’s environment that their power is overtaken. Could the same be said for copyright law?
The first thing to note when discussing generative AI is the fact that these programs are normally fed a large volume of training data, usually acquired online and without a license from the owner. When processed, the AI takes away all the structure and connections of the data, to the point where it retains all the learning, but the final output won’t match any single training input. This raises the question of whether copyright law would acknowledge this fair use and whether it would target the AI’s output.
One of the most important components of copyright law is the fact that it only protects the specific expression of an author – not the ideas presented. Therefore, if an AI managed to mimic someone’s style, this would not be seen as an infringement of copyright. Ultimately, it is a possibility that a court could extend the boundaries of copyright law and claim that the entire generative AI process could be seen as an infringement, but that would be a big stretch.
Congress could step in and amend copyright laws to require AI providers to pay for licenses, but this would not target the root of the problem. The damage done by generative AIs to the market for human generated works – such as photographs from Getty Images – occurs at the output stage, and any output is rarely an infringement of copyright.
To conclude, the ‘germs’ in this case could not protect us from generative AIs, and if anything, they will thrive and shape (at least) part of our future.
Leading-Edge Law Group PLC is a law firm that specializes in intellectual property law. Led by John B. Farmer, the team focuses on using legal tools and approaches to help their clients protect their intellectual property and increase their earning potential. They provide a wealth of services from protection analysis to patents, copyright and more.
