Is OpenAI breaking U.S. copyright law? A former employee of the company says yes.
A former researcher at the OpenAI has come out against the company’s business model, writing, in a personal blog, that he believes the company is not complying with U.S. copyright law. That makes him one of a growing chorus of voices that sees the tech giant’s data-hoovering business as based on shaky (if not plainly illegitimate) legal ground.
Guess it’s time to cut off OpenAI’s internet service. That’s how it works, right, Copyright Cartel??
Was anyone really thinking they were being decent people?
Plenty of people, even right here on Lemmy.
Damn… okay
I highly doubt one researcher knows more about copyright law than their lawyers. The legality of training AI on copyrighted materials is still being decided right now in court.
I think this is one of those cases where it’s much simpler than it seems. The courts will over complicate it and probably make whatever they’re doing legal, because money, but it’s quite plain for everyone to see that their business model is fundamentally based on the work, creativity, and time of people who did not consent to their products being used by a for-profit company, especially without notice or compensation. The fact that someone with insider knowledge of their systems is also saying the company is clearly breaking the law and abusing people’s trust, just makes the whole thing even more obvious and absurd.
You’re right that the law is still unclear on the specifics, but OpenAI has deflected, obfuscated, lied, and misrepresented themselves from day one. Whether or not they’ve actually broken the law hasn’t been determined yet, but it’s plain to see that they don’t operate in good faith with other people’s intellectual property.
I think you’re right that it’s simple.
If I stole a book to learn from I could be prosecuted for shoplifting. They stole millions of books for their AI to learn from. Seems cut and dry to me.
Exactly. Economies of scale shouldn’t be an excuse for them. Stealing one book is illegal, but stealing millions of books is legal? Obviously not. They need to be held to the same legal standards as the rest of us.
Stealing one book is illegal, but stealing millions of books is legal?
Legal precedent seems to indicate that stealing a little is illegal while stealing a lot is legal, except if you’re stealing from rich people.
for-profit company
In the US that’s the big rub: fair use exists, but if you’re using it commercially it becomes a lot shakier and less likely to be ruled as fair use in court. The general history of case rulings is (tldr version) if you’re making money from using someone else’s work, then you should probably pay them for the work you’re using. See: the crazy settlements over samples in songs that have happened.
If you hoover up the grand total sum of human knowledge, pay nobody anything, and profit from it, then you’re very much on shaky grounds.
