Artists file class-action lawsuit against AI image generator companies
Enlarge / A computer-generated gavel hovers over a laptop. (credit: Getty Images)
Some artists have begun waging a legal fight against the alleged theft of billions of copyrighted images used to train AI art generators to reproduce unique styles without compensating artists or asking for consent.
A group of artists represented by the Joseph Saveri Law Firm has filed a US federal class-action lawsuit in San Francisco against AI-art companies Stability AI, Midjourney, and DeviantArt for alleged violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, violations of the right of publicity, and unlawful competition.
The artists taking action-Sarah Andersen, Kelly McKernan, Karla Ortiz-"seek to end this blatant and enormous infringement of their rights before their professions are eliminated by a computer program powered entirely by their hard work," according to the official text of the complaint filed to the court.