Artists such as Paul McCartney, Ben Stiller and Cate Blanchett are against allowing technology to be trained with the use of copyright -protected material
More than 400 artists sent a letter to the White House asking the US president (Republican party) to not allow companies to use copyright to train AI (Artificial Intelligence) models.
The letter was signed by celebrities from the film industry, which includes actors, writers and producers, as well as musicians, writers and performists. Names like Ben Stiller, Mark Ruffalo, Cate Blanchett, Billie Eilish and Paul McCartney make up the document, according to .
The text mainly points to requests from companies such as Google and OpenAi to the Science and Technology Policies Office to allow to use works such as songs and movies to train their artificial intelligence models without asking permission or financially compensation for copyright holders.
“AI companies are asking to undermine this economic and cultural force, weakening the authorial protection of movies, television series, works of art, texts, music and voices used to train fundamental AI models for companies evaluated in billions of dollars”Says the document.
The letter nominally cites Google and OpenAi, stating that companies “They are asking for a special government exception so that they can freely exploit the creative and knowledge industry of the United States, despite their substantial profits and available funds”.
To the VarietyOpenAi said US copyright regulations encourage the strengthening of artificial intelligence and proposed that “The country ensures that the copyright system continues to support US leadership and national economy and security”.
Google also sent a position to Varietysaying that balancing AI regulations is “Fundamental to allowing AI models to learn from pre-existing knowledge and publicly available data, unlocking scientific and social advances”.highly unpredictable, unbalanced and dragged negotiations”During the development of scientific models and experimentation.
Read the full letter:
“Hello friends and strangers. As you should know, there was a recent recommendation by OpenAi and Google to the current US government that is gaining strength to remove all existing legal protection around the copyright protection laws for artificial intelligence training. [15.mar.2025], So we sent an initial letter with the signatories that were available at that time. We are now accepting more signatures for an amendment to our initial positioning. Please feel free to send this to anyone who thinks you can engage in the ethical maintenance of your intellectual property. You can add your name and any association or union or description of yourself that you deem appropriate, but please do not edit the letter. Thanks for spreading this on a Saturday night!
“Hollywood’s response to the government’s artificial intelligence action plan and the need for the copyright law to be maintained.
“We members of the US entertainment industry – representing a range of filmmakers, directors, producers, actors, writers, studios, production companies, musicians, composers, sound designers, costumes and production, editors, bosses, union, academy members and other creative industry professionals – we sent this unified position in response to the government’s request.
“We vehemently believe that Global US leadership in IA cannot happen at the expense of our essential creative industry. The United States art and entertainment industry employs more than 2.3 million people with more than $ 229 billion in salaries, while providing the basis of democracy to the United States, as well as the influence and power of knowledge in the world. Television series, works of art, texts, music and voices used to train fundamental AI models for companies evaluated in billions of dollars.
“Make no mistake: this problem goes far beyond the entertainment industry, as the right to train with copyright -protected content impacts the entire United States knowledge industry. As well as the technology companies and demand unrestricted access to all data and information, they are not just threatening movies, books and music, but all the work of writers, editors, photographers, architects, engineers, designer, doctors, doctors of developers Software and all other professionals who work with computers and generate intellectual property. These professionals are fundamental to how we discovered, learn and share knowledge as a society and a nation. This problem is not just about Individual AI leadership, but about US continuity creating and controlling valuable intellectual property in all areas.
“It is clear that Google (valued at $ 2 trillion) and OpenAi (valued at more than $ 157 billion) are asking for a special government exception so that they can explore the US creative and knowledge industry, only from their substantial profits and available funds. Law: negotiating appropriate licenses with rights holders – just as any other industry does. Access to the US Creative Catalog of Movies, Texts, Video Content and Music is not a matter of national security.
“The US has not become a cultural power by accident. Our success is directly feeding on our copyright respect that rewards talented US creative workers who take risks throughout the state and territory. We recommend that the AI action plan maintain the existing structure for maintaining the strength of US creative and knowledge industries, as well as the cultural influence of the United States in the world. ”
