Thinking About Possible Remedies in the Generative AI Copyright Cases

Abstract

The sixteen lawsuits brought to date against OpenAI and other developers of generative AI technologies include claims that making copies of in-copyright works for purposes of training generative AI models infringes copyrights. This column considers the remedies being sought in the generative AI copyright complaints. Three types of remedy claims merit special attention: claims for awards of statutory damages; court orders to destroy models trained on infringing works; and most bizarrely, a court order to establish a regulatory regime to oversee generative AI system operations. This column also considers a collective license approach for authorizing use of in-copyright works as training data, one of many issues the U.S. Copyright Office is currently examining as part of its study on AI technology and copyright. While we may not learn the outcomes of the various lawsuits for quite some time, it is worth thinking now about the high stakes involved in the ongoing development of generative AI systems.

Keywords: Copyright law, artificial intelligence, generative AI, infringement, remedies, collective license