Artificial Intelligence and Copyright

Introduction

The use of copyrighted works in training artificial intelligence (AI) models has sparked significant legal and ethical debate. Generative AI (GenAI), in particular, can produce text, images, video, or audio that emulates the expressive works used to train it. Key concerns include whether training on copyrighted material without permission constitutes fair use or copyright infringement, particularly when models can sometimes reproduce portions of their training data. Content creators argue they should be compensated when their work is used to train commercial AI systems, while some worry that AI-generated content could compete with and displace original creative works.

There are also questions about transparency – many users and creators are unaware of which copyrighted materials were included in training datasets. Over 50 lawsuits from authors, artists, and publishers are currently testing these issues in court, seeking to establish clearer legal boundaries around AI training practices. The debate balances innovation and the advancement of AI technology against intellectual property rights and the economic interests of content creators. A number of novel approaches to handling these issues have been explored internationally, including in the European Union, Japan, and Australia, and other approaches have been discussed and proposed by leading academics.

This paper is intended to provide a brief overview of the relevant considerations in anticipation of a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee, entitled “AI and Copyright.”