When an AI company uses copyrighted content to train their models without permission, it raises complex legal and ethical issues.
Below, we outline steps you can take, though please keep in mind that this is not legal advice. This is a guide on your rights as a copyright holder and recommended steps to protect your intellectual property.
Let’s do a brief analysis of the situation and the possible remedies.
First, confirm your ownership and gather evidence
Copyright ownership
Make sure you can clearly demonstrate that you own the copyright to the material in question. If you’ve formally registered your copyright (e.g., with a system like Contenseo or with the U.S. Copyright Office), this will help establish your claim.
Identify the infringement
Gather evidence that your content was used to train the AI. Look for:
- Publicly available datasets that list your content.
- Direct references to your content in the AI company’s documentation, research papers, or model outputs. Contenseo can help with this.
- Generated outputs from the AI model that are nearly identical to your work, which suggests unauthorised use.
Preserve records
Document and store all evidence, including publication dates, URLs, publications, screenshots, or any correspondence related to the potential infringement.
Second, investigate the AI company
Review the company’s transparency
Some AI companies disclose the datasets used to train their models. Search their website, research papers, or public statements for information about training datasets.
Look for terms like “common crawl,” “publicly available data,” or specific databases that may have included your content.
Check for licenses or agreements: Ensure that you didn’t unknowingly license your content through a platform that might have allowed its use in AI training.
Third, take action to address the issue
Here’s what you can do depending on your goals (e.g., stopping the use of your work, seeking financial compensation, or both):
A. Send a cease and desist letter
- Write a cease-and-desist letter demanding that the AI company stop using your content immediately and remove it from their training datasets. Contenseo’s AI digital assistant can help you with this.
- Outline your ownership of the copyrighted material and explain how the company is infringing on your rights.
- State the actions you expect (e.g., cessation of use, or compensation) and provide a timeline for compliance.
- It’s best to consult a lawyer or copyright specialist to draft this letter to ensure legal accuracy and tone.
B. Negotiate a licensing agreement
- If the company acknowledges that they’ve used your content, you may be able to negotiate a retroactive licensing agreement, which allows them to continue using your work for a fee. Contenseo can also help you with this, just use our contact form.
- Use this opportunity to set terms, such as ongoing royalties, attribution requirements, or a lump-sum payment.
C. File a DMCA takedown request
- If your content is hosted on a public platform or dataset (e.g., GitHub, Hugging Face, Kaggle), you may file a DMCA takedown request to have it removed.
D. File a copyright infringement claim
- If the AI company refuses to cooperate, you may need to escalate by filing a formal copyright infringement lawsuit. A lawyer specialising in intellectual property law can guide you through this process.
Fourth, protect your copyright for future use
- Watermark your content: Add visible or invisible watermarks to your work to make unauthorised use more easily detectable. If it is written content, you can secretly watermark the content by adding in only something you know about your subject or your company.
- Use copyright management tools: Leverage tools like Contenseo.com, the Copyright Clearance Center or digital rights management (DRM) systems to control and monitor the use of your content.
- Restrict access: If your content is online, consider implementing licensing requirements, paywalls, or terms of service that explicitly prohibit scraping, reproduction, or unauthorised use. You can register your copyrights on Contenseo.com.
Fifth, seek professional help
Since these steps may involve legal complexities, we recommend consulting an intellectual property lawyer. They can:
- Assess the strength of your copyright claim.
- Help you navigate copyright law in your jurisdiction (which may vary).
- Negotiate directly with the AI company or represent you in legal proceedings.
Sixth, industry advocacy
Finally, consider joining or supporting industry coalitions advocating for ethical AI use and copyright protections.
As AI continues to evolve, there’s increasing pressure on governments to establish clearer rules for how copyrighted material can be used for training purposes.
A rapidly evolving area
‘While the above outlines practical steps, remember that this is a rapidly evolving area of law,’ says Stephen Conmy, founder of Contenseo.
For now, your best course of action is to collect evidence, enforce your rights through negotiation or legal channels, and seek legal advice from an attorney with expertise in intellectual property and AI.
If you’d like, we can help you draft a cease-and-desist letter or a content licensing agreement tailored to your situation. Just contact Contenseo and let us know what you need.
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