The Universal Pictures film studio began a new campaign against the illegal use of their films for teaching artificial intelligence.
Since June, on the final credits of the paintings, including “how to tame a dragon”, “The world of the Jurassic period: Renaissance” and “Bad Guys 2”, a special warning text has appeared. It says that the films are protected by law and they cannot be copied, distributed or used for teaching AI without permission. In some countries, a link to the EU Law of 2019 has been added, allowing authors to prohibit the use of their work for scientific purposes.
The reason is the growth of technologies that can copy the style and personnel from famous films. For example, the Midjourney service on request created images that practically repeat scenes from the Avengers, Top Gan: Maverik, Shrek and others. This was the reason for the lawsuit by Universal and Disney against the company.
The main question is whether the use of films for teaching AI is considered “conscientious use” by law. If the court decides that no, the studio will be able to demand large compensation – up to $ 150,000 for each film used without permission.
