Artists should receive retrospective payments for works used to train AI, say arts organisations

"Organisations representing more than 100,000 artists, illustrators and photographers have published a joint statement calling for an end to the unauthorised scraping of copyrighted visual works by artificial intelligence (AI) firms to train their computer models, which they say are being used to undercut human creators. The group is calling for retrospective settlements for previous unauthorised use, for transparent disclosure of training datasets and for fair licensing agreements to ensure creators are properly credited and compensated for their contributions to AI development."

"Evidence of unlicensed scraping is clear...But companies have not been transparent about which copyrighted works they used for training. This is why we're calling for transparency. So that creators are respected and can then be credited and paid appropriately for the use of their works. Brazell adds that websites such has Have I Been Trained?, which allows artists to search AI databases for links to their work and flag them for removal, have identified "billions" of images used without permission, including his own illustrations."

"The coalition says that artists' raw materials are being used to directly harm their livelihoods, and that so far AI companies have failed to engage them on this issue. Isabelle Doran, the chief executive of the Association of Photographers, says: "These services evidently now compete directly with photographers' and other visual artists' livelihoods-our survey showed 58% of photographers affected by generative AI-and yet the companies responsible for the development and release of these programs continue to remain silent."

Organisations representing over 100,000 artists, illustrators and photographers demand an end to unauthorised scraping of copyrighted visual works by AI firms used to train models. The coalition calls for retrospective settlements, transparent disclosure of training datasets, and fair licensing agreements to ensure creators receive credit and compensation. Evidence and tools such as Have I Been Trained? have identified billions of images used without permission, including works by affected creators. Groups including the Design and Artists Copyright Society, the Association of Photographers and PICSEL state that artists' raw materials are harming livelihoods and that AI companies have not engaged creators on these concerns.

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