AI legal battle: Andersen triumphs over Stability AI, potentially securing rights for visual artists against AI-generated imagery
In the realm of artificial intelligence (AI), a significant legal battle is unfolding. Stability AI, a company known for its AI model Stable Diffusion, is currently embroiled in a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Getty Images.
The lawsuit, which was filed in August 2023 and has been active since, alleges that Stability AI unlawfully copied over 11-12 million copyrighted images from Getty’s collection to train its AI model, Stable Diffusion. This action, according to Getty, infringes not only on their copyrights but also their trademarks and database rights.
Stable Diffusion is an AI model that generates hyper-realistic images from user prompts by leveraging massive datasets, a significant portion of which Getty claims includes its own copyrighted images scraped from the internet.
The case is currently in the discovery phase, marking a significant step towards trial. Judge Orrick has ordered the involved companies to provide information on the data used to make their AI functional. The programming of the tool may have potentially facilitated copyright infringement.
The legal dispute is complex, with Stability AI challenging jurisdiction and claiming that the users of Stable Diffusion, not the company itself, generate the images, hence it is not directly liable for infringement. UK and US legal nuances about AI training, data scraping, and copyright application are central to the dispute.
Matthew Butterick, the attorney representing the illustrators Sarah Andersen, Kelly McKerman, and Karla Ortiz, who are also parties in the case, stated that generative AI poses a threat not only to the economic health of artists but also encroaches on their intellectual and emotional habitat, infringing on their personality.
The outcome of this case could set important precedents on how intellectual property law addresses AI-generated content, particularly around the use of large copyrighted datasets for training generative AI models and the legal responsibility for AI-generated content. The case follows earlier UK litigation, indicating a broad legal challenge against Stability AI’s use of copyrighted material in AI training.
As the case progresses, it underscores the complex intersection of AI technology and intellectual property law, a relationship that is set to shape the future of the creative industry.
References: 1. The Hollywood Reporter 2. CourtListener 3. Matthew Butterick 4. [4][5] (Not provided in the bullet points)
- The copyright infringement lawsuit against Stability AI, instigated by Getty Images, is centrally concerned with the utilization of Stable Diffusion, an AI model, which allegedly trained on over 11-12 million copyrighted images from Getty's collection, ultimately raising questions about the application of technology and artificial-intelligence in the realm of intellectual property law.
- The use of AI technology, as exemplified by Stable Diffusion, has been challenged in the ongoing lawsuit, with concerns raised about the copying of copyrighted images for training purposes and the potential infringement on artists' intellectual and emotional property through generative AI, as argued by Matthew Butterick, representing illustrators Sarah Andersen, Kelly McKerman, and Karla Ortiz.
