OpenAI is not only happy with Sora. At the end of September, the company presented its application to generate videos using its new AI model, Sora 2. It quickly became a great success, but also caused problems because it was full of videos showing characters from series and video games protected by copyright.
And American star agencies were quick to make their voices heard in the face of this violation. “It is clear that OpenAI/Sora exposes our clients and their intellectual property to significant risks,” criticized the Creative Artists Agency (CAA), which represents Scarlett Johansson, Doja Cat and Tom Hanks, according to the American site Deadline.
“Or does OpenAI believe that it can simply steal it, in defiance of international copyright principles and with blatant disregard for the rights of creators, as well as the many people and companies that finance the production, creation and publication of their works? In our opinion, the answer to this question is obvious,” he criticized.
More control for rights holders
However, the agency says it is “open and attentive” to OpenAI solutions. In the face of criticism, the startup’s boss, Sam Altman, stated on his blog on October 4 that his company would soon give rights holders “finer control over character generation, similar to the similarity membership model, but with additional controls.”
OpenAI chose to launch Sora with an opt-out system, currently it is possible to use copyrighted content unless agencies or studios request that their intellectual property not be used.
The creator of ChatGPT also announced on October 9 that it had implemented security measures to prevent the creation of famous people. The startup also reviews existing Sora videos for content that violates the updated policy.
“We are removing generated characters from Sora’s public feed and will be rolling out updates that give rights holders more control… over how fans can use them,” Varun Shetty, vice president of media partnerships at OpenAI, told CNBC.
OpenAI ordered to act
The CAA also revealed that it is working with intellectual property officials, unions, legislators and global policymakers on the issue.
Other agencies have also criticized Sora, such as the United Talent Agency, which called the app “exploitation, not innovation,” affirming its support for artists in this fight. Art agency WME has “notified OpenAI that all [ses] “Customers were to be removed from Sora’s latest AI update, whether or not intellectual property rights holders have opted out of the intellectual property with which our customers are associated,” as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
The Motion Picture Association, which represents the interests of the largest Hollywood studios, had urged the start-up on October 7 to take “immediate and decisive measures” against videos that use Sora 2 to produce content that infringes its copyright.
Film studios also ended up raising their voices. Disney, which previously filed a copyright infringement complaint against Midjourney in June, sent a letter to OpenAI last week saying it did not authorize it to copy, distribute, publicly display or reproduce images or videos featuring its copyrighted works and characters, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC.
However, the studio reportedly clarified that it was under no obligation to withdraw from Sora or any other OpenAI system to preserve its rights under copyright law.
Source: BFM TV
