Copyright Shield: OpenAI Pledges to Defend Customers Against Copyright Claims

By Joseph A. Campo, Esq.

OpenAI recently announced a new initiative known as "Copyright Shield." In the announcement, which was made with little fanfare but significant implications, the software giant promised to defend business customers using OpenAI’s software against copyright infringement claims, absorbing their legal costs as operational losses. Check out the full announcement here: https://openai.com/blog/new-models-and-developer-products-announced-at-devday.

Why? To what end?

This move reflects a growing recognition of the legal entanglements that can ensue from the use of generative AI technologies and positions OpenAI as a defender of its customers in this murky legal landscape. With a focus on providing true value to users, OpenAI steps into the fray at a time when the industry is grappling with the need for clear legal safeguards in the age of AI-driven content creation.?

As the landscape of generative AI expands, the potential for copyright infringement claims also rises, prompting OpenAI to offer this new program as a safeguard for its business customers using the generally available features of its developer platform and ChatGPT Enterprise. This protection, however, does not extend to all OpenAI products, such as the free and Plus tiers of ChatGPT [1][2].

The impetus for such a shield likely stems from OpenAI's own legal challenges, as it is currently a defendant in multiple copyright lawsuits, including one led by the Authors Guild. This legal pressure, coupled with industry trends, has pushed OpenAI to commit to defending businesses that face IP claims from the content created using their tools [3].

Concerns

Generative AI models, like ChatGPT, are trained on vast amounts of data from public websites, some of which are in the public domain, while others are not and may carry restrictive licenses. The distinction is crucial because the legality of using such data without permission is still being debated in court, and the risks of AI models regurgitating copyrighted content are non-negligible [1].

It's noteworthy that nearly a third of Fortune 500 companies have cited intellectual property as their top concern regarding the use of generative AI, according to a survey by Acrolinx. Moreover, nine out of 10 developers consider IP protection crucial in their decision to utilize generative AI. These concerns are not unfounded, as the possibility of AI producing work that closely mirrors its training examples can lead to legal complications [1].

Not the first, and not the last.

Several major players in the tech industry, such as IBM, Microsoft, Amazon, Getty Images, Shutterstock, and Adobe, have already pledged to indemnify their customers over IP rights claims. OpenAI's Copyright Shield adds to this trend, signaling a broader shift towards more robust IP protection measures in the generative AI industry [1].

Companies using these AI tools must navigate the complexities of copyright law carefully, and services like Copyright Shield offer some reassurance. Yet, it remains to be seen how effective these shields will be in practice, particularly as the legalities surrounding training data and copyright infringement continue to be contested in courts around the world.

The introduction of OpenAI's Copyright Shield is not just a response to legal challenges but also a strategic move to maintain industry leadership, as evidenced by their simultaneous announcement of a new ChatGPT app store and the GPT-4 Turbo model [2]. The development and rollout of these legal protection offerings will be watched closely by businesses and legal professionals alike, as they could significantly impact the value and utility of generative AI in commercial applications going forward.

References

[1] Wiggers, K. "OpenAI promises to defend business customers against copyright claims." TechCrunch. Available at: techcrunch.com.

[2] "OpenAI Introduces 'Copyright Shield' for ChatGPT." DesignRush. Available at: spotlight.designrush.com.

[3] "OpenAI’s Copyright Shield Is Business As Usual For Enterprise IT." Forbes. Available at: www.forbes.com.