As AI and tech giants push for unrestricted access to limitless training data, a battle is brewing between the world’s top creators and the ever-hungry language models that thrive on human creativity.
Two of the planet’s most powerful AI developers, OpenAI and Google, recently submitted letters to the White House Office of Science and Technology, responding to its request for input in the development of an AI Action Plan.
The two multibillion-dollar corporations are urging the Trump administration to grant them the freedom to disregard copyright laws, allowing them to use any material they choose to train their language models.
OpenAI argues that the U.S. will lose its competitive advantage in the race to become the world’s AI leader if it strictly adheres to intellectual property frameworks.
Google says copyright is one legal area that will “impede appropriate access to data necessary for training leading models.”
Major Hollywood figures were quick to push back on these calls. Nearly 500 actors and creatives signed a letter arguing that “America’s global AI leadership must not come at the expense of our essential creative industries.
It is clear that Google (valued at $2 trillion) and OpenAI (valued at over $157 billion) are arguing for a special government exemption so they can freely exploit America’s creative and knowledge industries
“AI companies are asking to undermine this economic and cultural strength by weakening copyright protections for the films, television series, artworks, writing, music, and voices used to train AI models at the core of multi-billion dollar corporate valuations.”
Read the full letter below.
We, the members of America’s entertainment industry — representing an intersection of cinematographers, directors, producers, actors, writers, studios, production companies, musicians, composers, costume, sound & production designers, editors, gaffers, union and Academy Members, and other industrious, creative content professionals – submit this unified statement in response to the Administration’s request for input on the AI Action Plan.
America didn’t become a global cultural powerhouse by accident. Our success stems directly from our fundamental respect for IP and copyright that rewards creative risk-taking by talented and hardworking Americans.
We firmly believe that America’s global AI leadership must not come at the expense of our essential creative industries. America’s arts and entertainment industry supports over 2.3 million American jobs with over $229 billion in wages annually, while providing the foundation for American democratic influence and soft power abroad. But AI companies are asking to undermine this economic and cultural strength by weakening copyright protections for the films, television series, artworks, writing, music, and voices used to train AI models at the core of multi-billion dollar corporate valuations.
Make no mistake: this issue goes well beyond the entertainment industry, as the right to train AI on all copyright-protected content impacts all of America’s knowledge industries. When tech and AI companies demand unfettered access to all data and information, they’re not just threatening movies, books, and music, but the work of all writers, publishers, photographers, scientists, architects, engineers, designers, doctors, software developers, and all other professionals who work with computers and generate intellectual property. These professions are the core of how we discover, learn, and share knowledge as a society and as a nation. This issue is not just about AI leadership or about economics and individual rights, but about America’s continued leadership in creating and owning valuable intellectual property in every field.
For nearly 250 years, U.S. copyright law has balanced creator’s rights with the needs of the public, creating the world’s most vibrant creative economy.
It is clear that Google (valued at $2 trillion) and OpenAI (valued at over $157 billion) are arguing for a special government exemption so they can freely exploit America’s creative and knowledge industries, despite their substantial revenues and available funds. There is no reason to weaken or eliminate the copyright protections that have helped America flourish. Not when AI companies can use our copyrighted material by simply doing what the law requires: negotiating appropriate licenses with copyright holders — just as every other industry does. Access to America’s creative catalog of films, writing, video content, and music is not a matter of national security. They do not require a government-mandated exemption from existing U.S. copyright law.
America didn’t become a global cultural powerhouse by accident. Our success stems directly from our fundamental respect for IP and copyright that rewards creative risk-taking by talented and hardworking Americans from every state and territory. For nearly 250 years, U.S. copyright law has balanced creator’s rights with the needs of the public, creating the world’s most vibrant creative economy. We recommend that the American AI Action Plan uphold existing copyright frameworks to maintain the strength of America’s creative and knowledge industries, as well as American cultural influence abroad.
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