AI Is Causing Problems For Copyright
What the law does and doesn't say about AI art in 2022.
We’ve been told that AI is “here” for some time. And while we have kinda known for a while that machine learning has been influencing the backend of our social media bubbles, the technology (some version of it) has taken center stage in our feed this week with Lensa AI.
Capping off a year when lots of us spent too many hours typing prompts into DALL-E and Midjourney, it seems like this latest viral AI art trend could be the tipping point for mass awareness — it always ends with selfies.
This being the Internet, any trending behavior will be counteracted by naysayers warning of negative consequences — usually having to do with privacy. And this wave reliably appeared right around the same time your aunt read the Lensa Explainer article on USA Today.
But faintly audible in the cacophony are more salient concerns about the impact AI-generated art is beginning to have on our current copyright frameworks.
The question goes something like this:
AI needs large sets of existing data to generate its own versions of the same media. In the case of Lensa, that means scraping the work of countless visual artists from the Internet, then applying that data in its algorithm.
The resulting digital pieces are not, technically, the work of the original artists, and thus not protected by copyright. But it is derivative, and some argue that in the case of AI art, the artist whose work makes up the data driving the AI deserve some sort of compensation.
On this ethical dilemma, there are some parallels to existing, if undecided, IP law. The Supreme Court recently heard arguments in a case involving Andy Warhol’s unlicensed use of a photo of Prince. The pending verdict of the case could seriously impact fair use precedent, but it could also indicate how future court thinking might apply to AI art.
In the music world, the now infamous “Blurred Lines” case has caused the industry to veer in the direction of crediting and compensating songwriters whose songs are interpolated.
The net good of this protectionist approach is highly debatable, but it would be ironic if the legal thinking that has favored institutional IP holders — big-name artists, big business publishers — at the expense of songwriters trying to compose new music turns out to be the same reasoning that ends up bolstering protection for all of the merely mortal musicians who will have to face the deluge of AI songs that is already coming.
TAKEAWAYS
Salient statements from this week’s music news.
1. House Judiciary Committee Approves Bill Requiring Radio Stations to Pay Royalties to Performers
If the bill eventually passes the full Congress, U.S. stations will have to start paying the same royalties that streamers and satellite radio (as well as terrestrial radio in most countries) all pay.
Takeaways: If the bipartisan bill were to go through, artists, performers, producers and musicians involved in creating songs would receive royalties when their music plays on U.S. terrestrial radio stations, just as songwriters already do.
2. Fake Streams Aren’t Slowing Down
Data from Soundcloud and Merlin Network indicate that fake streams could be more pervasive than previously thought, with a wider impact on the industry..
Takeaway: Napster senior VP and general counsel Matthew Eccles worried that the music industry could enter a phase like professional cycling decades ago, when cyclists felt compelled “to dope” just to compete at a high level.
3. Triller Removes Major Label Music Catalogs From App, ‘Reassessing’ Deals
The embattled video app claims “the usage does not justify the cost.”
Takeaway: Since 2020, Triller has faced hundreds of millions of dollars in lawsuits due to what Sony Music and other labels, artists, and publishers described as “brazen contempt” and “willful and unauthorized use” of song catalogs.
4. Music Stocks Are Rebounding at the End of a Rough Year
End-of-year numbers are down across the board, but there’s reason to hope the worst might be behind major music stocks.
Takeaway: Music companies have outperformed the broader stock markets thanks to solid third-quarter earnings results that met and occasionally exceeded expectations.
5. Dolly Parton Wants to Reunite Led Zeppelin for Her New Rock Album
The country legend seems committed to following through on her hard rock aspirations following her induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Takeaway: With legendary producer Steve Albini offering his services to produce the album, it seems that Parton is actually set to follow through with the project.
