Legal trouble with AI-generated Ghibli images

Studio Ghibli, the iconic Japanese animation studio known for works like Spirited Away (2001), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), and Kiki's Delivery Service (1989), has been one of the most talked about names over the past few days. Just a day after OpenAI released its “image generation” feature for ChatGPT, social media was flooded with Studio Ghibli-themed photos.

This new feature raises concerns about intellectual property rights, but the problem is that Studio Ghibli itself will have a very difficult time winning in court.

Infringement of intellectual property rights

If Studio Ghibli decides to sue OpenAI to block this feature, the studio will have a very difficult time proving it, according to intellectual property lawyers.

Social media is flooded with AI-generated photos in Studio Ghibli style. Photo: X.com.

Specifically, these experts argue that the legal implications of using Studio Ghibli films to train AI models like OpenAI are still unresolved. Furthermore, copyright law often allows artists to emulate a visual style.

The Ghibli-style image generation capability, touted by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on X, is a step up from ChatGPT's previous image generation capabilities. Previous versions, like the one using the DALL-E 3 engine, made it more difficult to create images in the style of living artists.

Matthew Sag, a law professor at Emory University who specializes in copyright law and artificial intelligence, said OpenAI's previous defense was more about "pretending" the public image than actual copyright protection.

“OpenAI made a pretty sensible decision to stop creating images in the style of living people. Not because it’s a copyright violation, but because people don’t like it. Individuals are very easily offended by that,” Sag said.

According to Business Insider , the legal arguments against generative AI companies like OpenAI can be boiled down to two main points.

The first is the “input” case. It needs to be proven whether the creator of ChatGPT would violate Studio Ghibli’s rights if they trained a large language model on the studio’s films and TV shows.

Then there’s the “output” case. Studio Ghibli has to prove that OpenAI is creating works that are similar to the copyrighted work it’s applying for.

OpenAI can easily "circumvent the law"

An OpenAI spokesperson previously told Business Insider that the company's policy allows for images to be created in the "general style of the studio" but does not allow for images to be created in the "style of a living artist."

The allegedly disrespectful images were created by AI in the style of Studio Ghibli. Photo: X/@netcapgirl.

However, Kristelia García, a professor of intellectual property law at Georgetown Law School, said the difference between copying the work of Studio Ghibli or its co-founder Hayao Miyazaki is irrelevant.

According to Ms. García, the studio, and possibly the artists who work for them, can all make copyright claims.

Meanwhile, Professor Christa Laser, an expert in intellectual property law at Cleveland State University, said that Studio Ghibli would have a much more difficult time making an "output" argument in court.

She explained that while individual works – such as specific Studio Ghibli films, scenes or characters – are protected by copyright, artistic styles are not.

Evan Brown, an intellectual property attorney at the law firm Neal & McDevitt, made a similar observation, saying that artistic styles are not explicitly protected by copyright, meaning OpenAI is unlikely to be breaking the law simply by creating images that look like Studio Ghibli films.

In fact, ChatGPT's image guidelines are quite flexible when it comes to creating this type of content. OpenAI spokesperson Taya Christianson said the company doesn't block models from recreating images of adult public figures or depicting violence in fictional contexts, as long as it serves an artistic purpose.

Art style not explicitly protected by copyright law. Photo: PetaPixel.

In fact, Ms. Christianson emphasized that users should only upload materials that they own or have the rights to use on the platform, and they do not have the right to edit photos themselves.

Business Insider notes that for Studio Ghibli to successfully argue copyright infringement, it would need to prove that OpenAI's models were actually trained on the studio's works. The biggest problem is that this could require an early discovery process in the lawsuit.

However, Professor García said Studio Ghibli would have an even harder time if the investigation concluded that ChatGPT's feature was trained on fanart (drawings created by fans in a certain style), which has been popular on the internet for decades.

Source: https://znews.vn/rac-roi-phap-ly-voi-anh-ghibli-tao-bang-ai-post1541893.html