When AI meets IP: Can artists sue AI imitators?

<p>Ben and Ceora talk through some thorny issues around AI-generated music and art, explain why creators are suing AI companies for copyright infringement, and compare notes on the most amusing/alarming AI-generated content making the rounds (Pope coat, anyone?).</p><p><strong>Episode notes:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/6/23587393/ai-art-copyright-lawsuit-getty-images-stable-diffusion">Getty Images is suing</a> the company behind AI art generator Stable Diffusion for copyright infringement, accusing the company of copying 12 million images without permission or compensation to train its AI model.</p><p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/class-action-lawsuit-ai-generators-deviantart-midjourney-stable-diffusion-2246770">a group of artists is suing</a> the companies behind Midjourney, DreamUp, and Stable Diffusion for “scraping and collaging” their work to train AI models. </p><p>One of those artists, Sarah Anderson, wrote <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/31/opinion/sarah-andersen-how-algorithim-took-my-work.html">an op-ed in <i>The New York Times</i></a><i> </i>about seeing her comics gobbled up by AI models and regurgitated as far-right memes.</p><p>Speaking of copyright violations, did Vanilla Ice really steal that hook from David Bowie and Freddie Mercury? (<a href="https://www.euronews.com/culture/2022/03/08/when-queen-david-bowie-sued-vanilla-ice-the-top-5-landmark-cases-in-music-copyright-disput">Yes</a>.)</p><p>Check out <a href="https://twitter.com/rpnickson/status/1639813074176679938">the AI model trained on Kanye’s voice</a> that sounds almost indistinguishable from Ye himself.</p><p>Read <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/1/23703087/ai-drake-the-weeknd-music-copyright-legal-battle-right-of-publicity"><i>The Verge</i>’s deep dive</a> into the intersection of AI-generated music and IP/copyright laws.</p><p>Watch <a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/03/yes-virginia-there-is-ai-joy-in-seeing-fake-will-smith-ravenously-eat-spa