Every industry faces opportunities and challenges with Artificial Intelligence. The animation film sector is no exception. MVVP recently highlighted the copyright challenges in the Reanima Masterclass program (www.reanima.eu).
Three takeaways:
- Adaptations – Purely AI-generated animations do not typically receive copyright protection, as they lack human-derived creative choices. However, adaptations of these animations could be protected if the animators can demonstrate that they are the result of their independent creative choices. In this respect documenting this process of creative adaptation is crucial.
- Prompting – Sometimes it is argued that there is originality in the ‘prompting’ of the AI system. While the text of the prompt may be original, the output does not necessarily reflect that same expression and form. The output often only relates to the ideas of the input which are not protected by copyright.
- Infringement Risks: AI-generated animations can inadvertently infringe upon the copyrights of existing works. Notably, companies such as Stability AI, Midjourney, and DeviantArt position themselves as mere tool providers, absolving themselves of legal responsibilities. The terms and conditions of AI platform tools emphasize user responsibility and risk assumption.
