Three artists have teamed up to file a lawsuit against leading artificial intelligence (AI) digital imaging tools. DeviantArt’s new tool, Stable Diffusion, Midjourney and DreamUp, has been accused of violating the copyrights of “millions of artists”.
The lawsuit comes from artists Sarah Andersen, Kelly McKerna and Karla Ortiz, represented by attorney Matthew Butterick. The document’s main indictment focuses on how AI is trained to create its images: analyzing billions of works by different artists.
1/ As I learned more about how I learned the applications of highly exploitative AI media models, I realized there was no legal precedent to fix this. Let’s change that.
You can find out more about our class action lawsuit, including how to contact the firm, here: https://t.co/yvX4YZMfrG
—Karla Ortiz?? (@kortizart) January 15, 2023
This research for robot education was done using images found on the internet without the permission or even knowledge of the authors. Butterick claims these tools then “fill the market with an essentially unlimited number of infringing images that will cause permanent damage to the marketplace for art and artists.”
Defense of companies
The companies behind tools like Stable Diffusion and Midjourney are defending themselves by saying their AI training is covered by the law. fair use USA (fair use) allows the use of someone else’s work under certain conditions. This is a highly interpretative law, and it is this kind of process that opens precedents for understanding in unprecedented situations, as we live with AIs that can draw today.
But a major technical error appears in the process documentation. Butterick claims AI-powered imaging tools “store copies” of artists’ work and then create a “collage” of different artworks.
The robot actually generates mathematical patterns based on the engravings it analyzes and then uses these equations to create images from scratch. In fact, if original works were used directly in the composition of the paintings, it would be more favorable to prosecute these companies.
Source: Tec Mundo
