The article also recounts the story of MP3.com, a music startup that was destroyed by a copyright lawsuit in 2001. Despite its attempts to operate within the law, MP3.com was sued by the recording industry for copying CDs onto its servers without authorization, a practice it argued was allowed by copyright’s fair use doctrine. The case serves as a cautionary tale for AI companies that may face similar legal challenges in the future.
Key takeaways:
- The New York Times has sued OpenAI for copyright infringement, a case that some believe the Times has a low chance of winning.
- OpenAI argues that using publicly available Internet materials for training AI models is fair use, citing a 2015 precedent where Google was allowed to scan copyrighted books to create a search engine.
- However, the authors of the article warn that AI companies are on shakier legal ground than Google was in its case, and courts don't always side with technology companies in copyright cases.
- The case of MP3.com, a music startup that was destroyed by a copyright lawsuit despite its attempts to operate within legal boundaries, is used as an example of the potential legal risks AI companies could face.