Source: Kilpatrick Townsend

Courts are wrestling with how generative AI (GenAI) interacts with established copyright doctrines, concentrating on whether outputs from GenAI trained on copyrighted text, images, and software code can meet the “substantially similar” standard for infringement. The event highlights litigation over indirect copyright infringement claims against generative AI providers and the application of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s prohibition on circumvention of technical controls, indicating these areas are focal points for disputes. Questions about the efficacy of watermarking and other copyright-marking techniques to identify or protect works used in or produced by GenAI are also identified as contested technical-legal issues.

The session was scheduled for Friday, June 21, 2024, at the Hyatt Regency Reston, 1800 Presidents Street, Reston, Virginia, from 9:15 a.m. to 10:15 a.m., as part of The Sedona Conference on AI and the Law, Part 2: AI and IP Law. Dialogue leaders planned to discuss recent decisions and pending high-profile cases and to assess the statutory interpretations and legal theories being employed. CLE accreditation was to be sought in selected jurisdictions, with potential accreditation for sessions on professional responsibility, technical competence, and elimination of bias. The extract frames the program as a legal assessment rather than reporting final judicial determinations.