Three companies that use generative AI systems, Stability AI, Midjourney, and DeviantArt, have requested a San Francisco federal court to dismiss a class-action lawsuit filed against them by artists Sarah Andersen, Kelly McKernan, and Karla Ortiz. The artists accused the companies of engaging in mass copyright infringement by using their works in the AI systems without authorization. However, the companies argued that the lawsuit did not mention specific images that were allegedly misused, and the AI-generated images are not similar to the artists’ works.
Stability AI claimed that the artists “fail to identify a single allegedly infringing output image, let alone one that is substantially similar to any of their copyrighted works.” Similarly, Midjourney argued that the lawsuit did not “identify a single work by any plaintiff” that it “supposedly used as training data.” DeviantArt supported these arguments and claimed that it was not liable for the AI companies’ alleged misconduct.
The artists filed the lawsuit in January, alleging that the companies’ unauthorized copying of their works to train the systems and the creation of AI-generated images in their styles violated their rights. The artists’ attorney declined to comment, while the companies and their representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In a related development, 42 German associations and trade unions representing over 140,000 authors and artists have called on the European Union to strengthen draft rules for AI due to concerns about copyright infringement by generative AI. This includes concerns about the use of AI by language models such as ChatGPT.
The AI companies are seeking the dismissal of the artists’ copyright lawsuit, arguing that the AI-generated images are not substantially similar to the artists’ works, and the lawsuit did not mention specific images that were allegedly misused. However, the case raises important legal questions regarding the use of generative AI in creating new works that resemble existing copyrighted materials.
