CONFIRMED: Adam Schiff's Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act Would Apply to Video Games, Virtual Worlds & Metaverse Platforms

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Representative Adam Schiff recently announced the Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act, a bill that would require gen AI companies like Midjourney and OpenAI to disclose if any copyrighted works were used in its training data. As he put it in the announcement:

We must balance the immense potential of AI with the crucial need for ethical guidelines and protections. My Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act is a pivotal step in this direction. It champions innovation while safeguarding the rights and contributions of creators, ensuring they are aware when their work contributes to AI training datasets. This is about respecting creativity in the age of AI and marrying technological progress with fairness.

The bill is backed by a raft of major film and music industry groups (Congressman Schiff is based in Los Angeles), and it seems intended to primarily protect those mediums from unauthorized AI training of their intellectual property.

But does it apply to video games, virtual worlds, and metaverse platforms? That’s not made clear in the wording.

So I contacted Adam Schiff’s office. Asking exactly that:

“Would the Act apply to 3D models, i.e., content in video games, virtual worlds, and metaverse platforms? So for instance, 3D models of castles, heroes, user-generated 3D models, and so on.”

Rep. Schiff’s communications officer confirmed to me that indeed it does:

“Yes, it would apply to any copyrighted material.”

That’s an important clarification, as the game/metaverse industry clamors to add generative AI content into their experiences. (And the bill, if passed, would retroactively apply “to previously released generative AI systems”.) Indeed, Midjourney’s CEO recently told me the company plans to create something like the Holodeck of Star Trek.

But if Schiff’s act becomes a law, every generative AI platform would probably need to seek permission, license, and compensate creators of 3D content in their system, once they or the copyright holder (such as a game publisher) is notified. Which will be another daunting cost for most platforms. (Though some gen AI platforms already train only on licensed content.)

But will it become a law? Schiff’s office tells me there’s no timeline for when it’s expected to be put up for a vote.

My semi-informed forecast is it has a very good chance of being made a law — after the 2024 election, depending on its outcome:

Above: Created in Midjourney by Kala Bijoux with the prompt, “Imagine Adam Schiff as a video game character fighting dragons”

Among Democrats, Schiff is a very well-known and admired Congressperson, thanks in great part for leading the prosecution of both Trump impeachments. He’s now running for Senate and will almost certainly win.

So if Adam Schiff is elected, and Biden is elected, and the Democrats win both the House and Senate — give that a 50-60% chance of happening — Schiff is perfectly positioned to pass this bill.

Then again, if Trump is elected, worrying about copyright in AI platforms will probably be the least of all our concerns. Including Adam Schiff. 

Top image generated by Pikaso, generative AI program recommended to me by Gogo, who has a blog post about it.

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