Copyright Lawsuits Mount as EU AI Act Negotiations Face Delays
A new wave of federal copyright lawsuits targets major AI developers over the use of copyrighted books and song lyrics in training data. Meanwhile, disagreements among EU lawmakers threaten to push final negotiations for the AI Act into 2024.
Authors and music publishers launch new federal copyright lawsuits against developers of generative AI systems. A group of authors, including former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, files a class action in New York targeting large language models trained on the "Books3" and "The Pile" datasets. Shortly after, major music publishers sue Anthropic in Nashville, claiming its Claude chatbot reproduces copyrighted song lyrics like Katy Perry's "Roar" and threatens existing licensing markets.
These legal actions expand the growing litigation battlefront against generative AI across the United States, spanning from Northern California to Tennessee and New York. The publishers argue that AI systems outputting literal and derivative copies of lyrics bypass the traditional licensing structures that ensure creators receive proper compensation and credit for their work.
On the regulatory front, final negotiations for the EU AI Act experience significant delays. Disagreements among European lawmakers regarding how strictly to regulate powerful foundation models and how to define high-impact AI systems push the timeline past the expected 2023 deadline. Reuters reports that talks could extend into early 2024, where they face further potential disruption from upcoming European Parliament elections in June.