AI Training Is Copying. Is It Infringement? | Keith Kupferschmid, CEO Copyright Alliance
Technically Creative by KoobrikLabsShow Notes
AI is forcing one of the biggest copyright debates in decades. So what does copyright law actually say about training AI on creative work? This episode is paid for by the Future of Life Institute. In this episode of Technically Creative, Orlando Wood sits down with Keith Kupferschmid, CEO of the Copyright Alliance, to unpack the increasingly complicated relationship between artificial intelligence, copyright, fair use, creators and the companies building generative AI. Keith represents a coalition that includes individual creators as well as organizations across film, television, music, publishing, photography, journalism and other copyright industries. He argues that generative AI presents a fundamentally different challenge because AI models can be trained on copyrighted works and then produce material that competes in the same markets as the people who created the original work. But what does copyright law actually say about that? Keith explains an important distinction that often gets lost in the AI copyright debate: the legal question surrounding the copying of copyrighted material during AI training is separate from the question of whether an AI-generated output is substantially similar to an original work. From there, Orlando and Keith dig into fair use, licensing, market harm, training data, pirated material and the growing number of AI copyright lawsuits working their way through US courts. They discuss why different types of creative work may produce very different legal outcomes. A language model trained on books but used to write résumés presents a different fair-use question from an AI music system trained on music to generate more music. Keith explains why he believes cases involving music, journalism and some visual imagery may provide particularly strong tests of the fair-use argument. The conversation also looks beyond the lawsuits to the question that matters for the future: if AI isn't going away, how do we build a system that works for creators and technology companies? Keith proposes three essential ingredients: licensing, transparency and safeguards. And while Keith is forceful about protecting copyright, this isn't a conversation about rejecting AI. He believes creators can use artificial intelligence productively and responsibly while remaining in control of their creative work. As he puts it: “Don't put AI in the control room.” We explore: How copyright law applies to generative AI and AI training data The difference between input infringement and output infringement Whether training AI on copyrighted material can qualify as fair use Why permission, compensation and licensing matter to creators The major AI copyright lawsuits moving through US courts Why different courts are reaching different conclusions about AI and fair use How market harm affects the fair-use analysis Why AI-generated music presents a particularly interesting copyright case Copyright issues affecting writers, musicians, filmmakers, photographers and software developers Why Keith believes licensing, transparency and safeguards could provide a path forward How creators can use AI without surrendering creative control Why AI copyright law may take years to become clearer For artists, filmmakers, writers, musicians, photographers, publishers, creative companies and anyone trying to understand the fight over AI training data and copyright, this is a practical explanation of what the law says today, where the uncertainty remains, and what a workable future could look like. Technically Creative is a technology podcast for people who don't necessarily think of themselves as tech people, exploring how AI and technology are changing film, television, advertising, publishing, media and the creative industries. This episode is sponsored by the Future of Life Institute.
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🎬 Behind the Scenes of Danse Macabre (Long Version): https://youtu.be/QALh6PauOCw 🎥 Danse Macabre Trailer: https://youtu.be/b1A4U37asVg Hisko’s Website - Hiskohulsing.com He spent 11 years making an animated film. Then he was booed at its premiere for using AI. In this episode, Orlando Wood sits down with Hisko Hulsing, the Dutch artist, filmmaker and animation director behind Danse Macabre, Amazon's Undone and Netflix's The Sandman, to discuss the AI controversy that erupted at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Hisko spent 11 years creating Danse Macabre, producing 75 original oil paintings and working with 80 artists and production professionals. He used generative AI for a small part of the production, transferring the style of his own paintings onto traditionally animated characters. Despite this, the film was met with boos, walkouts and accusations of AI slop. Hisko responded by giving the protesters the middle finger. In this candid conversation, Hisko explains how the film was made, the emotional toll of the backlash, and why he believes artists experimenting with new technology are being unfairly targeted. He also addresses the legitimate concerns surrounding AI copyright infringement, training data, job displacement and the ethics of generative AI, including how AI has already eliminated his own commercial storyboarding work. In this episode: Why Hisko Hulsing was booed at the Annecy Animation Festival How Danse Macabre combines oil painting, traditional animation and AI style transfer The difference between professional AI-assisted filmmaking and AI slop Copyright, AI training data and the rights of working artists Why anti-AI backlash could drive creative professionals to hide their AI use How generative AI is changing the future of animation and independent filmmaking A fascinating conversation about artistic freedom, human creativity, AI ethics and the growing divide between traditional artists and emerging technology. Technically Creative is brought to you by KoobrikLabs, the data partner for creative companies. https://koobriklabs.com/contact/ #HiskoHulsing #DanseMacabre #AIAnimation #AIFilmmaking #TechnicallyCreative
Weekly AI news for the creative industries. This week, Technically Creative asks a bigger question underneath the AI boom: everyone seems to be getting richer, but who is actually paying for all of it? Hosted by Orlando Wood, founder of KoobrikLabs, the AI/IT partner for creative companies. To get in touch about using AI in your business, visit https://koobriklabs.com/contact/ This week: Meta rewrites its commercial terms in a way publishers fear could expand its rights to use their content for AI training. Fox is now running live TV campaigns where AI systems transact with other AI systems. Google wants to own more of the shopping journey. And Elon Musk unveiled a Roadster that can, sort of, fly. But the bigger story is economic. CoreWeave is carrying enormous debt. Anthropic is heading toward a historic IPO and says it is profitable on an adjusted basis. Character.AI filed for bankruptcy despite having around 12 million active users. And Netflix is profitable while still cutting jobs. So what happens when the companies making the most money need fewer people to make it? And what happens when AI efficiency starts removing the same consumers the economy depends on? Plus, the new American Entertainment Alliance is pushing for rules that would require major streamers to spend more with independent producers. Technically Creative covers AI, technology, Hollywood, advertising and the creative industries.
Can you copyright AI-generated work? If you create a film, image, character or advertisement using generative AI, who actually owns it? If you're a creative company looking to future-proof your business, book a free consultation with KoobrikLabs, the data partner for creative companies. 👉 https://koobriklabs.com/contact/ In this episode of Technically Creative, Orlando Wood sits down with Lisa Oratz, Senior Counsel at Ashurst, to explore AI copyright law, intellectual property ownership, fair use, and how filmmakers, artists, advertising agencies and creative companies can legally protect work created using generative AI. Lisa specializes in technology, entertainment and intellectual property law, advising studios, production companies, artists and technology businesses navigating the rapidly evolving legal landscape surrounding artificial intelligence. One of the biggest misconceptions about generative AI is that anything created using AI cannot be copyrighted. Lisa explains why that's not necessarily true. She discusses how her team secured copyright registration for Critters, an AI-assisted animated short film, by demonstrating meaningful human authorship through scripting, editing, modification and the selection and arrangement of AI-generated material. The conversation explores what constitutes sufficient human creative involvement, whether detailed prompts and storyboards can establish copyright protection, and why AI-generated characters and individual assets present particular legal challenges. They also examine the major AI copyright lawsuits involving Anthropic and Meta, the fair use debate surrounding AI training data, and how creators can minimize infringement risks when using generative AI tools. Finally, Orlando and Lisa discuss AI-generated actors, digital replicas, Tilly Norwood, SAG-AFTRA and how artificial intelligence could change the future of filmmaking and creative ownership. In this episode: Can AI-generated films, images and characters be copyrighted? How human authorship establishes copyright protection for AI-assisted work The story behind Critters and its successful copyright registration AI prompts, storyboards, editing and intellectual property ownership Anthropic, Meta, AI training data and the fair use debate How creators can protect their work and reduce copyright infringement risks Synthetic actors, digital replicas, Tilly Norwood and SAG-AFTRA What AI copyright law means for the future of filmmaking and advertising Technically Creative is a technology podcast for people who don't necessarily think of themselves as tech people, hosted by Orlando Wood, CEO of KoobrikLabs. This episode is sponsored by the Future of Life Institute, a nonprofit organization working to ensure that transformative technologies, including artificial intelligence, benefit humanity while reducing their potential risks. #AICopyright #GenerativeAI #CopyrightLaw #AIFilmmaking #TechnicallyCreative
Weekly AI news for the creative industries. This week, Technically Creative asks whether ad tech is about to become something much bigger: the system that creates, distributes, targets, measures and continuously rewrites advertising. TikTok, Meta, OpenAI, NBCUniversal, FreeWheel, Newton and Omnicom are all pushing AI deeper into advertising. Creative generation, media buying, audience targeting, campaign optimization and measurement are starting to collapse into the same technological loop. Technically Creative is brought to you by KoobrikLabs, the AI/IT partner for creative companies - www.koobriklabs.com That matters because advertising technology used to answer one question: who should see this ad? Now it is increasingly able to answer another: what ad should exist for that person in the first place? We look at how conversational AI could transform advertising intent, what happens when AI agents negotiate media and purchasing decisions with other AI agents, and why dynamic product placement inside finished films and television raises much bigger questions about authorship, creative control and whether a piece of media is ever truly finished. Elsewhere, publishers including HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Hachette are using AI internally. Audible wants to use synthetic narration to make far more books available as audiobooks. Sony Music says it has requested the removal of more than 260,000 AI-generated tracks impersonating its artists. And local AI could become increasingly important for creative companies trying to keep unreleased scripts, rough cuts, pitches and client data secure. We also look at OpenAI’s work on AI-generated text provenance and Nikon’s decision to disqualify an AI-manipulated scientific image, which may point toward a more useful way of thinking about AI policy: different contexts require different rules. Hosted by Orlando Wood, founder of KoobrikLabs, Technically Creative covers the increasingly interdependent worlds of AI, advertising, Hollywood, media, technology and the creative industries.
How is AI actually changing professional film and advertising production? Technically Creative is brought to you by KoobrikLabs, the IT and AI partner for creative companies. In this episode of Technically Creative, Orlando Wood sits down with Ryan Black and Kyt Janae from Luma AI to explore how generative AI is moving beyond individual image and video generation and into professional filmmaking, VFX, advertising, pre-production, post-production, and hybrid production workflows. Luma is building AI tools designed around the way professional creatives actually work. Ryan and Kyt explain Luma Agents, a multimodal creative platform that combines Luma’s image and video models with other leading AI models, while Kyt explains her role as a Forward Deployed Creative, working directly with creative teams to integrate AI into existing production pipelines. The conversation explores a fundamental shift in creative production: AI can allow filmmakers and creative teams to explore dozens or hundreds of possibilities before committing enormous time and money to execution, while maintaining the specificity, consistency, control, and collaboration professional work requires. They also explore hybrid filmmaking, including Luma’s work with filmmaker Jon Erwin, Wonder Project, and AWS, where live actors, motion capture, virtual production, volume stages, VFX, and generative AI are brought together into a more collaborative production process. Ryan and Kyt discuss how AI can help with previs, storyboarding, set extensions, VFX, character consistency, localization, post-production, and creative iteration, while allowing experienced artists and filmmakers to remain in control of the work. And Kyt makes an important point: as these tools become more capable, creative thinking becomes more valuable. The model can generate possibilities. It still needs someone with an idea worth pursuing. We explore: How Luma Agents work inside professional creative workflows What a Forward Deployed Creative actually does Why AI production is moving beyond the one-prompt workflow How filmmakers can explore hundreds of creative possibilities before committing to execution AI-assisted filmmaking, VFX, previs, and post-production How hybrid production combines live actors, virtual production, motion capture, and generative AI Luma’s work with AWS, Wonder Project, and filmmaker Jon Erwin Why experienced filmmakers and artists remain essential to AI workflows How AI can give creative teams greater speed, specificity, consistency, and control Robert Rodriguez using AI to explore ideas he has carried for decades Why AI could make previously too expensive or complicated creative ideas possible How professional film and advertising workflows are changing This is a conversation about what happens when generative AI stops being something creatives experiment with on the side and starts becoming part of the professional production pipeline. For filmmakers, producers, VFX artists, advertising creatives, agencies, studios, and anyone trying to understand how AI is changing film production, this is a practical look at what the next creative workflow could actually look like. Technically Creative is a technology podcast for people who don’t necessarily think of themselves as tech people, exploring how AI and technology are changing film, television, advertising, media, and the creative industries.