Universal Pictures Adds ‘May Not Be Used to Train AI’ to the End of its Movies
Universal Pictures has made a move in the ongoing AI dispute by adding a legal warning to its films at the end of the credits.
Movies such as How To Train Your Dragon, Jurassic World Rebirth, and The Bad Guys 2, all released this summer, have had “may not be used to train AI” attached to the end of them.
“This motion picture is protected under the laws of the United States and other countries,” the warning reads. “Unauthorized duplication, distribution or exhibition may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution.”
The Hollywood Reporter reveals that Universal believes by making an explicit statement against AI on the films themselves, it will make it more difficult for tech firms to use the company’s content for data-extraction purposes.
The warning is tweaked in some countries by citing a 2019 European Union copyright law that lets creators opt out of having their content used for research. THR reports that major tech companies oppose this law.
Hollywood Fights Back Against AI
Universal’s AI warning is the latest move by major Hollywood studios to address the rapid expansion of the AI industry. The company has already launched a lawsuit, along with Disney, against the AI image generator Midjourney.
Yesterday, PetaPixel reported on how Midjourney has struck back at the studios, accusing Disney of “trying to have it both ways” with AI.
Photographers and photography as an industry simply do not have the kind of power Hollywood studios have. Short of adding “may not be used to train AI” to a portfolio website, which is recommended, photographers have few options in the fight against AI.
Photographer Tim Flash told PetaPixel how he was able to recreate eerily similar AI images of his own, unique nature photos on Midjourney.
“I think we should demand from governments a clear ‘opt-in’ and not an ‘opt-out’ situation,” Flach told PetaPixel. “The fact is, if you are impersonating the style of artists, what does it leave when that technology gets a thousand times more powerful?”
“It does create a challenge, I think, for many people’s livelihoods. The data sets are being trained on our images. Without these images, it wouldn’t function so effectively.”
