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SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, WGA, and even DGA have united in support of legislative action that would put new, somewhat punitive guardrails around artificial intelligence.
“Everything produced by AI ultimately comes from human creative sources,” said SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director on new legislation proposed today by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA). said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, Chief Negotiator.. “That is why human creative content, or intellectual property, must be protected. SAG-AFTRA fully supports the Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act because it is an important step in ensuring that technology serves people and not the other way around. ”
Schiff, who was hot in the race to become California's new junior senator, introduced the Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act into the 118th Congress on Tuesday (read it here). If passed by the House and Senate and signed by President Joe Biden, this concise bill would provide copyright protection to companies and entities that use copyrighted works to train training datasets for generative AI systems. It will be mandatory to submit a public notice to the Registrar.
This means that before we release AI-generated materials into the world, we need to lift the veil and reveal where the information and datasets came from. Now, the bill carries $5,000 civil fines for violations, but in important ways it doesn't hurt tech moguls and studios all that hard.
But considering the fear and harsh reality that AI itself generates among lower-level workers and creators, the fact is that just introducing the bill would be enough for Mr. Schiff to throw green meat at his base. Schiff, who is commonly known as the Hollywood congressman because of the many studios in and around the Burbank area, is extremely important to unions and guilds in his Senate race, which he will lose to a Republican challenger he promoted. raises important issues. members on the table.
The use of AI and its impact was a huge part of last year's strikes by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA. Despite hand-wringing from those who predicted any deal would sink, guild members' protections around his AI became a key part of the agreements writers and actors made with studios and streamers.
Now, with the introduction of Schiff's long-anticipated new bill, leadership is at it again.
“This bill is an important first step in addressing the unprecedented misuse of copyrighted material to train generative AI systems,” said WGA West Executive Director Meredith Steem.. “We need greater transparency and guardrails around AI to protect writers and other creators. ”
WGA East Chairman Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, Mr. Steem's East Coast partner, added: “The Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act is important legislation to ensure that companies use this rapidly evolving technology in an ethical and transparent manner. Given the scope and potential threats of AI. Enforceable regulation is urgently needed to prevent companies from introducing this technology behind the scenes without people's consent or knowledge.”
“The Directors Guild of America applauds this common-sense legislation, which is an important first step toward allowing filmmakers to protect their intellectual property from the potential harm caused by generative AI. ,” said DGA President Leslie Linka Glatter. “Thank you Congressman Schiff for championing these rights to protect filmmakers and the entire creative community.”
Now in the midst of its own negotiations with AMPTP, where AI is a clear priority, IATSE will squarely pursue its interests when it comes to Schiff's bill.
“The International Alliance of Theatrical Employees applauds Congressman Adam Schiff for introducing the Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act,” IATSE President Matt Loeb declared. “Entertainment workers must be fairly compensated when their work is used to train, develop, and produce new works by AI systems. This law requires adequate transparency of the AI training set produced. , thereby ensuring that IATSE employees are able to exercise their rights.”
Since the contract agreement that ended last year's months-long WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike, many guild executives have made it abundantly clear that a legislative solution to AI's unstoppable growth is the next logical step. I have to. To this end, SAG-AFTA and others are already working in Congress to get bills like Schiff's bill to be considered in the Republican-controlled House.
“The threat of AI to workers is a bipartisan issue, and both sides know it can harm their constituents,” one union said after the Schiff bill was introduced today. the leader told Deadline. “We're hearing concerns from almost as many Republicans as Democrats,” he added.
Schiff's bill builds on the momentum started by President Biden's executive order on AI from October of last year, followed by the three-pronged strategy that Vice President Kamala Harris and her administration launched late last month.
At the state level, two bills are passing the Sacramento Legislature aimed at curbing the influence and power of AI, particularly as it relates to Hollywood.
Currently in the early stages of the legislative process, SAG-AFTA supports it and MPAs oppose it. AB 2602 strengthens protections for performers: digital reproductions of performers and their works can only be used with permission and compensation. Another bill, AB 1836, would place contextual and creative limits on AI and digital uses of deceased performers, from Sidney Poitier to Marilyn Monroe to Elvis to Heath Ledger. At its core, AB 1836 would capitalize on the likeness and performance of dead stars.cent The use of century is used in the context of what the performers actually did when they were alive: tag team wrestling with Jane Wyman and Marilyn.
Adam Schiff said today about the Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act: “It celebrates creativity in the age of AI and connects technological progress with equity.”