Knobbe Martens partner Mauricio Uribe was quoted by TechTarget in the article ” AI copyright lawsuits are a warning to business users.” The article discusses recent copyright lawsuits involving AI, why businesses should pay attention to them, and whether AI model creators need permission before using copyrighted data.
Uribe explains that copyright lawsuits are “important to set the framework” for AI models’ use of protected work. However, he also notes that identifying which aspects of those rights might be infringed can be challenging, as having to obtain permission from all of the owners with copyright works.
“What happens if one author out of 10 million pieces of literature that are ingested into the training set says you copied me without permission? What’s the damages model with that, and what’s the relief?” Uribe said. “I think this raises some very interesting questions.”
Uribe also warns that businesses should evaluate the risks associated with using models that potentially infringe on copyright of other legal protections. “Companies building applications and experiences with either predictive or generative AI must have clear guidance and governance,” he said. “What happens if that software has an open source license with it? All of a sudden you’re integrating software code into your own company that comes with these obligations you may or may not know about,” Uribe said. “It’s not just copyright, let alone if that software fails or it has a virus. That, to me, is the risk these companies need to at least think about.”
Read the full article here.