Writers Guild demands studios stop tech companies from training AI on their work

Writers Guild of America this week sent a missive to large Hollywood studios asking them to instrumentality enactment against tech companies that are utilizing writers’ enactment to bid AI tools without their permission.

“The studios, arsenic copyright holders of works written by WGA members, person done thing to halt this theft,” the guild’s enactment said successful a letter. “They person allowed tech companies to plunder full libraries without support oregon compensation. The studios’ inaction has harmed WGA members.”

The guild said its corporate bargaining statement requires studios “to support their copyrights connected behalf of writers” and urged studios to “take contiguous ineligible enactment against immoderate institution that has utilized our members’ works to bid AI systems.”

The missive was sent to studios including Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, Walt Disney Co., Paramount Global, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures and Amazon MGM Studios. Representatives from those studios either declined to remark oregon didn’t respond to requests for comment.

WGA‘s missive referenced an Atlantic article past period that reported that subtitles from thousands of movies and TV episodes were included successful an AI-training information acceptable utilized by companies including Facebook genitor institution Meta and San Francisco-based AI institution Anthropic. Anthropic and Meta did not instantly instrumentality a petition for comment.

The WGA missive comes arsenic immoderate studios are successful discussions with tech companies that are processing AI tools. In September, “Hunger Games” workplace Lionsgate announced a partnership with AI startup Runway. Under that deal, Runway volition make a caller AI exemplary for Lionsgate to assistance with behind-the-scenes processes specified arsenic storyboarding.

Other large Hollywood studios person yet to publically denote deals, successful portion due to the fact that AI is simply a complicated scenery where regulations and ineligible questions surrounding the exertion are inactive evolving. There are besides questions implicit however workplace libraries should beryllium valued for AI purposes and concerns astir protecting intelligence property.