Judiciary Committee hears testimony on the intersection of AI and copyright

One of the most flagrant issues in the quickly emerging field of artificial intelligence is how AI collides with copyright. This multifaceted issue is being taken up by the U.S. Congress. Today, the Judiciary Committee is presenting “Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property: Part 1 — Interoperability of AI and Copyright Law. 

The committee has undertaken a three-prong approach to this fast-moving and thorny set of issues: Testimony will cover the use of copyright-protected works in the training of generative AI models, copyright protection of works that were produced with the assistance of generative AI, and the economic impact of generative AI on creators and creative industries.

Witnesses giving statements today represent the creative fields of music and photography, the science of AI, and a lawyer from the U.S. Copyright Office. Here is the list of individuals testifying today:

• Sy Damle, Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP; former General Counsel of the U.S. Copyright Office
• Chris Callison-Burch, Associate Professor of Computer and Information Science, University of Pennsylvania; Visiting Research Scientist, Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence
• Ashley Irwin, President, Society of Composers and Lyricists; Emmy Award-winning music director, conductor, composer, arranger, and producer
• Dan Navarro, Grammy-nominated songwriter, singer, recording artist, and voice actor
• Jeffrey Sedlik, President & CEO, PLUS Coalition; Member, Joint Committee on Ethics in AI; professional photographer

Live video (and possible archive) HERE.

(H/T Steve Ruwe, Copyright Royalty Board)