Don’t Let ChatGPT Write So Much Fan Fiction
The most interesting part of the Hollywood writers' new contract is the AI clause. According to news reports, it explicitly allows the studios to “train” large language models on scripts written by members of the Writers Guild. The agreement implies that permission to train an LLM on a writer's works has value. It follows that the right must be purchased from the writer — not simply taken.
Which brings us to the copyright infringement lawsuit filed last week by leading members of the Authors Guild against OpenAI, the company behind GPT-3.4 and GPT4 (with more on the way). Although the complaint lists several violations, the major ones come down to two: First, that OpenAI has violated authors' copyrights by training its programs on scanned copies of published works; and, second, that by enabling users to create what amounts to fan fiction on steroids, OpenAI has contributed to violations by others.
As a writer myself, and an acquaintance of some of the plaintiffs, I sympathize. But as a longtime intellectual property teacher, the claim related to training likely has only a slim chance of succeeding.
The position of the Author's Guild is that the materials on which an AI is trained have value. I agree; so, apparently, does Hollywood. An AI can't generate domestic thrillers if it's never read any domestic thrillers.
The courts, however, will likely hold that the outcome is controlled by the 2015 decision of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, holding that Google was protected by the “fair use” doctrine when it scanned copyrighted works into its database, in large part because only snippets would be generated to users who tried to search the texts. I'm not sure the court was right, but it'll be a tough precedent to
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