Winston Cho
Hollywood Reporter
Originally posted 13 August 24
Artists suing generative artificial intelligence art generators have cleared a major hurdle in a first-of-its-kind lawsuit over the uncompensated and unauthorized use of billions of images downloaded from the internet to train AI systems, with a federal judge allowing key claims to move forward.
U.S. District Judge William Orrick on Monday advanced all copyright infringement and trademark claims in a pivotal win for artists. He found that Stable Diffusion, Stability’s AI tool that can create hyperrealistic images in response to a prompt of just a few words, may have been “built to a significant extent on copyrighted works” and created with the intent to “facilitate” infringement. The order could entangle in the litigation any AI company that incorporated the model into its products.
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A federal judge has allowed key claims to move forward in a lawsuit filed by artists against generative AI art generators, including Stability AI and Midjourney. The lawsuit alleges that these companies used billions of images downloaded from the internet to train their AI systems without permission or compensation.
U.S. District Judge William Orrick found that Stability's AI tool, Stable Diffusion, may have been built using copyrighted works and created with the intent to facilitate infringement. The judge advanced all copyright infringement and trademark claims, paving the way for discovery.
During discovery, artists' lawyers will seek information on how Stability and Runway built Stable Diffusion and the LAION data set. The case's outcome could entangle any AI company that incorporated the model into its products and may impact the widespread adoption of AI in the movie-making process.
Concept artists like Karla Ortiz, who brought the lawsuit, fear displacement due to AI tools. The case raises novel legal issues, including whether AI-generated works are eligible for copyright protection. The court's ruling could have significant implications for the future of AI in the creative industry.
Defendants argued that the lawsuit must identify specific works used for training, but the court disagreed. The case will proceed to discovery, with potential consequences for AI companies that used the Stable Diffusion model.
