As we head into the thick of summer and Congress prepares for the more relaxed pace of August recess, there is one conversation that is unlikely to slow down anytime soon — that of artificial intelligence.
Conversations surrounding the rapidly emerging technology are continuing across the country, and Capitol Hill is no different.
On Weds. July 12th, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property held a hearing titled "Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property – Part II: Copyright."
This hearing, led by Chair of the Subcommittee, Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), was the second in a series of hearings to analyze artificial intelligence (AI) and intellectual property.
Throughout the hearing, the committee heard from five witnesses including Jeffrey Harleston, general counsel and executive vice president of business and legal affairs at Universal Music Group; Karla Ortiz, concept artist, illustrator, and fine artist; Matthew Sag, professor of law, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science at Emory University School of Law; Dana Rao, executive vice president, general counsel, and chief trust officer at Adobe Inc., and Ben Brooks, head of public policy at Stability AI.
Over the course of the hearing, the senators mainly focused on the issues of the right of publicity and intellectual property when it comes to AI technology using copyrighted materials. They often called upon the five witnesses for their input and expertise on both the creative and technical sides of the issues, with Mr. Harleston receiving the bulk of questioning due to his knowledge of the music industry.
During questioning, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) asked Harleston about the need for a federal right of publicity law, which would better protect an individual's name, image and likeness from being misappropriated by AI technologies.
As the two conversed, it was stated that right of publicity laws in states are inconsistent and therefore a federal law would provide more constitutional protection for artists and creators to control their works.
Later in questioning, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) had a similar question for Harleston: given that even though half of the states have laws that give individuals control over their name, image, and likeness, what importance would new laws have in protecting artists in the face of AI?
Harleston reiterated that it is critical to establish a federal right of publicity to better enshrine an artist's intellectual property.
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) continued the questioning toward Harleston asking for input on what is needed for negotiations between copyright owners and AI companies based on the music community's experience negotiating with digital streaming services. Harleston stated that the AI companies need to understand that the use of copyrighted material in their training is a violation of rights and once the companies understand that they are being violative, the negotiations can begin.
Sen. Hirono continued to ask Ms. Ortiz if she had ever been asked for consent by the AI companies to use her work to which Ms. Ortiz stated she has never been asked, compensated, or credited.
To wrap up the hearing, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), hammered in the committee's responsibility to thoroughly approach this issues:
"We need legislative certainty, we need to learn...we want to make sure [a new law] scales properly, but this is clearly an area where anyone would be hard pressed to convince me that no action is required," he stated.s
Sen. Coons echoed that sentiment saying, "We need to closely, and with deliberation, realign what federal protections there are...to protect the rights of individuals, protect the rights of those who earn their living by being creative."
Over the course of the 90-minute hearing, the members of the subcommittee made it clear that they are dedicated to creating legislation that will protect artists while also allowing for technology to grow.
Although it is unclear when legislation will be released, the Recording Academy is committed to continuing to ensure that music creators are protected — not harmed — by new laws in the wake of advancing AI.
