German creatives call for EU to address ChatGPT copyright concerns
Following the concerns raised by Italian regulators and the European Parliament, now the German trade unions are expressing their worries about potential copyright infringement due to the use of copyrighted materials by ChatGPT. Over 140,000 German authors and performers represented by 42 trade organizations have signed a letter urging the EU to impose strict rules for the AI's use of copyrighted material.
The letter underlines that unauthorized usage of protected training material, its non-transparent processing, and the foreseeable substitution of the sources by the output of generative AI, raise fundamental questions of accountability, liability, and remuneration. It further adds that generative AI needs to be at the center of any meaningful AI market regulation.
Major German trade unions Verdi and DGB, along with other associations for photographers, designers, journalists, and illustrators, have signed the letter as well. They express concern over the possible substitution of human-generated content with AI-generated content, which creates a question of liability and remuneration for those whose work has been used without permission.
ChatGPT is not the only AI system to be targeted recently in copyright concerns. In January, Getty Images filed a copyright claim against Stability AI, which allegedly copied over 12 million photos, captions, and metadata without permission.
The EU's Artificial Intelligence Act is nearing its conclusion; its regulations will likely set a global standard. However, questions remain about how well it will adapt as AI developers find new and innovative ways of making algorithms more efficient.
