A group of creator rights experts issued a harsh warning that AI content “fulls up the commercial market and sucks up a lot of money.”
“I'm sorry to say we're still in this fight to make AI companies aware that we're making copyrights. [infringing] ACTS,” said Cecile Despringre, executive director of the Audiovisual Authors Association (SAA).
Despringre was speaking on a panel entitled “Artificial Intelligence, Author Rights, Guild Solidarity: Adjusting Standards to the Needs of European Neighbors” as part of Cinelink Industry Days at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Despringre was critical of the General AI Practice Code issued by the European Union, published last month as a voluntary tool to help AI providers comply with the EU's AI laws that were caught up in the law on August 2.
“This code of practice is very unfortunate from the top right perspective, as it is a huge advantage for AI companies,” Despring said. “There is no concrete obligation to respect copyright. It is very limited in terms of transparency. This should be the basis for discussion.”
The Despringre organization has 33 members in 25 countries, including countries outside the EU and countries in Southeastern Europe. It develops activities in Northern Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania. SAA will hold an author's rights seminar in Skopje, North Macedonia in November to discuss “an approach to AI tsunamis experiencing society at large, particularly the audiovisual sector.”
The executive said two years ago, her organization was primarily working on how streaming platforms would engage authors' rights when AI issues were taken over. “We approach AI with the same spirit [as streaming platforms]Despringre said:
“We believe that new uses of these works and the principles of copyright should be applied.”
SAA narrowed down what is called the “art of AI” into three areas where creators must be protected. “Acceptance, rewards, transparency.”
“For us as film funding, the big question is what kind of production we support,” said Sebara Irgacheva, executive director of the European Association of Film Directors, which has members such as the UK's BFI, France's CNC, and the German Federal Film Commission. “What happens to the boundary between AI-assisted work used as a tool and AI-generated work with the simplest prompts? [creates the whole work]? ”
These questions “will be the next two to five years, not ten years,” Irgacheva said.
Unity
“AI content will flood the commercial market and suck a lot of money,” predicted Klemen Dvornik, a board member of the European Federation of Screen Directors. The only way to counter this is to “meet our unity in the AV sector as soon as possible.”
“Save the local economy, protect film funds, local financiers,” says Dvornik, a precautionary measure against AI. “We'll find ways they can implement cultural policies – local voices, implement new voices.”
Marta Krzeptowska, producer of Polish and post-production facility Orka in Warsaw, highlighted how AI is removing “pain,” an important element of art creation. But it's not a good idea. “We've become accustomed to the film and art that comes with effort and time,” Kruzetowska said. “Pain is part of creation. It's part of the conversation that we should teach younger generations. The moment of choice is ours, not our machines. We can choose. [if you have] Knowledge is always accompanied by effort. ”
The panel also highlighted concerns that US ownership of AI companies will lead to a US tilt to their model. “The biggest AI developers are based in the US and provide specific content and data,” Irgacheva said. “As Europeans, we need to ensure that we can use the works created here to train AI models with ethical respect in copyright.
“For European culture to be reflected in these tools, you need to be aware that US companies are using your work to train models,” Despringre said. “We're still in this fight. They claim they're benefiting from copyright exceptions.” The executive said her members “knocked at Openai, Microsoft's door,” and “let's have a conversation so we can design the best licensing model.”
“We can set fair conditions. But this dialogue is not taking place. Unfortunately, the EU institutions have not yet driven this conversation,” Despringre said.
The Sarajevo Film Festival will close on Friday, August 22nd.
