Two senators have optioned a bipartisan bill that would require tech companies to disclose any copyrighted material used in training AI models. According to Deadline, California’s Sen. Adam Schiff and Utah’s Sen. John Curtis have introduced the Copyright Labeling and Ethical AI Reporting Act.
Schiff said in a statement, “While AI has the potential to improve our lives and change the way we work and innovate, we need a unified approach to implementing guardrails that protect the work and livelihoods of all workers, including artists and creators. Human creativity is the foundation of our cultural and creative economy, and it plays a vital role in shaping our society, our stories, and our shared experiences,” via Deadline.
Deadline reports the bill has gained support from many of the entertainment unions and guilds including SAG-AFTRA, both coasts’ Writers Guild of America, the DGA, IATSE, the Authors Guild, the American Federation of Musicians, National Association of Voice Actors, the National Music Publishers Association, the Artists Rights Alliance, SoundExchange and the Television Academy.
Noticeably missing from that group is the Motion Picture Association, despite the Recording Industry Association of America’s endorsement. According to Deadline, film studios have yet to come to a consensus on the use of AI, thinking current copyright law would suffice.
Something the bill does not do is require AI companies to license the works they’re borrowing from, which has been at the middle of several lawsuits, according to Deadline. Three major companies — Walt Disney, Warner Bros., and NBC Universal — are currently in litigation against Midjourney on this very subject.
“Congress must help encourage AI innovation, but not without transparency and accountability,” Curtis said in a statement via Deadline. “The CLEAR Act strikes the right balance by protecting creators’ intellectual property while providing clear expectations for companies. By shedding light on how generative AI models are trained, our bipartisan legislation will help build public trust for emerging technologies and foster the best of American creativity.”
The pervasive use of AI was a hot negotiation topic during the 2023 dual-union strikes. The WGA settled that AI could not be used for literary or source material. And writer’s material was prohibited from training AI models. SAG-AFTRA discussed attaching compensation to the reuse of an actors AI scan, which would require said actor/performer’s consent for use, even for deceased actors’ likeness.
mxdwn reported last October that SAG formed an agreement with OpenAI tool, Sora 2, that installed more stringent enforcement of its opt-in policy, requiring the artist’s consent before the likeness appeared on the video-generating app. Actor Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad, Power Rangers) led the charge, with support from several major talent agencies, after he appeared in the app taking a selfie with Michael Jackson (Bad, Invincible).
The next month, Disney’s exiting CEO, Bob Iger, shared conversations had occured with tech companies on how they could utilize AI to their benefit, while maintaining the protection of their IP.