There is a lot of debate on whether freely training artificial intelligence (AI) models on copyrighted materials is permissible under the law. This de

Getty Images CEO: Respecting fair use rules won’t prevent AI from curing cancer

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2024-12-02 20:00:17

There is a lot of debate on whether freely training artificial intelligence (AI) models on copyrighted materials is permissible under the law. This debate escalates to court cases filed across varied jurisdictions and companies challenging companies that train their generative AI models by scraping copyrighted materials without permission.

The debate is largely framed as an all-or-nothing proposition. AI model makers argue all training is clearly permissible under the law. Some even assert that there is no copyright protection for online content as highlighted by Mustafa Suleyman, the CEO of Microsoft AI, in remarks earlier this year. “I think that with respect to content that’s already on the open web, the social contract of that content since the nineties has been that it is fair use. Anyone can copy it, recreate with it, reproduce with it. That has been freeware, if you like, that’s been the understanding,” Suleyman said.

As the CEO of Getty Images, I am responsible for an organization that employs over 1,700 individuals and represents the work of more than 600,000 journalists and creators worldwide. Copyright is at the very core of our business and the livelihood of those we employ and represent. As I am sure you can imagine, I vigorously disagree with the sweeping position outlined by Mr. Suleyman and others. I also suspect Microsoft would vigorously disagree if the same logic were applied to their software and gaming titles.