A group of entertainment industry workers has launched a new coalition aimed at defending creators' rights as the AI industry grows.
The group, called Creators Coalition on AI, was founded by 18 people, including writer and director Daniel Kwan, actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Natasha Lyonne, and producer Janet Yang, former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Gordon-Levitt said the group is not limited to Hollywood celebrities, but is open to all creators and skilled workers around them, including podcasters, digital content creators, and newsletter writers.
“Frankly, we all face the same threat, not from generative AI as a technology, but from unethical business practices committed by many large AI companies,” he said in a video posted to X on Tuesday. “The idea is that if we come together, through public pressure, collective action, possibly litigation, and ultimately legislation, creators can actually have more power.
The coalition's formation comes at a time when Hollywood is grappling with the rapid growth of artificial intelligence tools. Many artists have expressed concerns about tools using their likeness and work without permission or compensation.
The tech industry argues that AI models should be able to be trained using content available online, based on “fair use” principles that allow limited reproduction of material without the copyright holder's permission.
Some studios are partnering with AI companies to use tools in areas like marketing and visual effects. The Walt Disney Co. last week signed a licensing agreement with San Francisco-based ChatGPT maker OpenAI to use popular Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse and Yoda in its text-video tool Sora.
Kwan told The Hollywood Reporter that many people felt “completely blindsided” when the Disney-OpenAI partnership was announced.
“On the one hand, you could say this is just a character licensing deal, it's not a big deal, it's not going to completely change the way our industry works,” Kwan told THR. “But for many, it symbolically signals a willingness to work with companies that have not been able to resolve or reconcile issues.”
Lawsuits have also been filed against some AI companies. Earlier this year, Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros. Discovery sued AI business Midjourney for copyright infringement.
The Creators Coalition on AI said it will convene an AI advisory board to “establish common standards, definitions, and best practices, as well as ethical and artistic protections for when and where AI is used.” The principles the group lists on its website include the importance of transparency, consent, control and compensation in the use of AI tools, consideration for potential job losses, guardrails against abuse and deepfakes, and protecting humanity in the creative process.
“This does not completely negate AI,” the group said on its website. “The technology is here. This is a commitment to responsible, human-centered innovation.”
“This is not the dividing line between the technology and entertainment industries, nor the dividing line between workers and corporations,” the group said. “Instead, we're drawing a line between those who want to do this fast and those who want to do this right.”
Gordon-Levitt said in the video that the idea for the coalition came from Kwan, who produced a documentary on AI to be released next year. He said the group's efforts began in the middle of this year. The group already has a number of signatories, including actors Natalie Portman, Greta Lee, Kirsten Dunst and Orlando Bloom.
