Recently, over 400 prominent Hollywood creatives, including renowned director Ron Howard, Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett, and music legend Paul McCartney, jointly submitted a letter to the White House, strongly opposing OpenAI and Google's request to train AI on copyrighted material. They argue that America's global leadership in artificial intelligence shouldn't come at the expense of weakening its creative industries.
Image Source Note: Image generated by AI, licensed through Midjourney.
The letter points out that the arts and entertainment industry not only provides over 2.3 million jobs and generates $229 billion in wages annually, but also serves as a crucial representation of American democratic values internationally. It warns that AI companies attempting to weaken copyright protections to obtain films, music, and literature for training their models would severely damage America's economic and cultural strength.
In a letter submitted to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy on March 13th, OpenAI and Google argued that strict adherence to intellectual property frameworks could put the US behind China in the global AI race. OpenAI stressed the need for government guarantees of Americans' freedom to utilize AI to maintain its AI leadership. Google argued that copyright law might hinder AI models from accessing necessary data and called for reform towards a "balanced copyright regime".
In response, the creatives argue that Google and OpenAI are essentially seeking a special government exemption, allowing them to freely use America's creative and intellectual resources without paying copyright fees. They urge these AI companies to engage in reasonable licensing negotiations with copyright holders and emphasize that access to American creative works is not a matter of national security.
Signatories also include prominent filmmakers and actors such as Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón, and Maggie Gyllenhaal. As the discussion progresses, more and more creatives are joining the opposition.
Finally, they highlight that America's cultural success stems from its fundamental respect for intellectual property rights. They recommend that the US AI action plan should uphold existing copyright frameworks to maintain the strength of America's creative and intellectual industries and its cultural influence internationally.
