Like all sectors, the movie industry has been both affected by and exploring potential uses of generative Artificial Intelligence (‘AI’). On the one hand, movie studios have detected and begun to add warnings against unlicensed third-party uses of their content, including for AI training, and have taken enforcement initiatives through court action. On the other hand, the use of AI within and by the industry itself has been growing. Regarding the latter, some have emphasised the opportunities presented by the implementation of AI, including by advancing claims that AI tools can offer a ‘purer’ form of expression. Others have instead emphasised the potential displacement of industry workers, including workers employed in technical roles and younger and emerging actors. 
 
Against the background illustrated above, this webinar presents a study commissioned by 4iP Council to Prof. Eleonora Rosati and accepted for publication in Computer Security Law Review, which maps and critically evaluates relevant legal issues facing the development, deployment, and use of AI models from a movie industry perspective. The perspective adopted is that of EU and UK copyright law. 

As Prof. Rosati explains, the main conclusions of her work are the following: 

• Input/AI training: Insofar as model training on third-party protected content is concerned, there are no exceptions under EU/UK law that fully cover the entirety of these processes. As a result, lacking legislative reform, the establishment of a licensing framework appears unavoidable for such activities to be deemed lawful; 

• Protectability of AI-generated outputs: The deployment of AI across various phases of the creative process does not render the resulting content unprotectable, provided that human involvement and control remain significant throughout, with the result that AI is relied upon as a tool that aids – rather than replaces – the creativity of industry workers. 

• Legal risks and potential liability stemming from the use of third-party AI models for output generation: The use of AI models that generate infringing outputs, such as regurgitating input data or merely imitating style, may trigger the application of exclusive rights under copyright and related rights. The resulting liability may vest with the user of such models, as well as the model developer/provider. The latter aspect means that terms that exclude any such liability may ultimately be found to be unenforceable against users and ineffective against rightsholders.