Fair Use Under Fire in AI Copyright Debate

Copyright Meets Code

The U.S. Copyright Office’s long-awaited draft report on generative AI and copyright has ignited a wave of criticism from digital rights organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The report suggests that mass data ingestion by AI models may not reliably qualify as fair use, a stance that departs from existing legal interpretations and precedent. Critics argue that this approach skews too heavily in favor of rightsholders, risking significant setbacks for open innovation. The EFF contends that fair use exemptions have historically supported everything from search engines to machine learning research, and maintaining that flexibility is crucial to the development of transparent, fair, and competitive AI systems.

Blurred Lines, Big Implications

At the heart of the debate is whether training AI models on publicly available content constitutes infringement or transformative, legal use. The report’s cautious stance leans toward increased licensing and compensation for creators, but the EFF warns that such a shift could lead to monopolistic control by entities that can afford large datasets, stifling smaller developers and researchers. The EFF emphasizes that a balanced application of copyright law is essential to ensure AI remains a democratizing force, rather than a gatekept resource ruled by a few major players.