Hundreds of actors and Hollywood insiders sign open letter urging government not to loosen copyright laws for AI

Hollywood actors, directors and other creatives are pushing back on the loosening of AI regulations, with more than 420 entertainment industry insiders signing an open letter urging the government to uphold copyright laws that apply to artificial intelligence. The group, led by actress Natasha Lyonne, also includes Bette Midler, Aubrey Plaza, Ava DuVernay, Paul Simon, Mark Ruffalo and hundreds of others.The letter states that OpenAI and Google have recently recommended the government remove "all legal protections and existing guardrails surrounding copyright law protections for the training of Artificial Intelligence." The group believes loosening copyright laws to help AI learn would come at the expense of creative industries.OpenAI, a major U.S.artificial intelligence company, and Google, which runs the AI company Oracle, both wrote to the Office of Science and Technology Policy about an AI action plan this month, making the case that it would be beneficial for AI developers to be able to use copyrighted materials to train AI.Google argued that exceptions to copyright laws would allow the use of "copyrighted, publicly available material for AI training without significantly impacting rights holders," and that fair use and text-and-data mining exceptions would balance existing copyright rules.  Actors have long fought against the expansion of AI, with fears that it would undermine their creative work.

One of the major setbacks during the 2024 SAG-AFTRA union negotiations with major production companies was that the parties could not agree on AI regulations in the film industry.SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents about 160,000 performers, wanted film and TV producers to obtain consent from actors to create and use their digital replicas.They also fought for actors to be compensated at their usual rate – even if the role is performed by a digital replica of them. After a 118-day strike during the contract negotiations, SAG-AFTRA and the actors it ...