Generative AI in court

In the age of burgeoning AI-driven creativity, the song "Heart on My Sleeve" stands out, attributing its sound to famed artists like Drake and The Weeknd without their participation. This product of 'Generative AI' is a testament to AI's creative capabilities. However, amidst the advancement of AI in the creative domain, the intersection of technology and copyright law is witnessing unprecedented challenges. Legal realms are ablaze with contentious cases. Getty Images' legal battle with Stability AI, accused of unlawfully harnessing copyrighted images for their AI art tool Stable Diffusion, underscores this tension. Parallelly, artists like Sarah Andersen, Kelly McKernan, and Karla Ortiz have taken on AI solution providers, alleging misuse of copyrighted content. Sarah Silverman and fellow authors have similarly contested OpenAI and Meta's practices. The justification at the heart of these case is two-fold: the rightsholders' intent to preserve their control over evolving technology that repurposes existing content, and the disruptive potential of AI in reshaping a traditionally human-centred creative landscape. This collision spotlights global courts grappling with AI's challenges to conventional copyright concepts. As AI challenges conventional notions of authorship and copyright, critical questions arise: Can AI infringe copyright through its learning process? Can AI be an author and own a copyright? Can AI-generated outputs violate copyrights? This chapter delves into these pressing issues pending before multiple courts, contextualizing them within the global landscape of Generative AI and its potential disruptions to the creative industry.