Artificial Intelligence
Jason Allen’s AI art won the Colorado fair — but now the feds say it can’t get a copyright
The controversial image that won a Colorado State Fair contest last year may soon become the latest front in the legal fight over artificial intelligence.
Jason M. Allen, a Colorado-based artist, used generative AI software in the creation of the image, “Théâtre D’opéra Spatial.” It has the look of an oil painting, but it is purely digital — generated in large part by software in response to a prompt by Allen.
“I’m the guy that opened Pandora’s Box and ended up becoming the center of the zeitgeist revolving around this issue of AI art,” he said in an interview last month.
The image was striking enough to win part of the Colorado State Fair’s art contest last year. But the U.S. Copyright Office on Tuesday issued a final decision that it can not be copyrighted, meaning Allen can’t get legal protections to stop others from reproducing and using the image themselves.
Read more: https://www.cpr.org/2023/09/06/jason-allens-ai-art-won-colorado-fair-feds-deny-copyright-protection/
The creative industries are fighting back against UK government proposals to let artificial intelligence companies use copyright-protected work without permission.
The latest protest is a silent album co-written by more than 1,000 musicians, including Kate Bush, and follows a statement signed by 48,000 creatives including Abba’s Björn Ulvaeus in which they warned of a “major, unjust threat” to artists’ livelihoods.
Artificial Intelligence
Kate Bush, New Order, & Damon Albarn Among 1,000 UK Artists Protesting Government’s AI Stance With A Silent Album
Last week, the UK government proposed a new policy that would allow tech companies to use copyrighted works to train their artificial intelligence algorithms. Under the proposal, artists and companies could opt out of having their material used for AI, but it would otherwise give the companies unfettered access to people’s creative work without having to license anything. The proposal has incited widespread anger in the UK’s arts communities, and now a team of 1,000 British musicians has released a silent protest album called Is This What We Want?
Writers, publishers, musicians, photographers, movie producers and newspapers have rejected the Labour government’s plan to create a copyright exemption to help artificial intelligence companies train their algorithms.
In a joint statement, bodies representing thousands of creatives dismissed the proposal made by ministers on Tuesday that would allow companies such as Open AI, Google and Meta to train their AI systems on published works unless their owners actively opt out.
