Copyright infringement is not a new issue. In the age of VHS and cassette tapes, individuals were often the centre of copyright controversies: recording TV shows, movies, and music without authorization. Many people recorded music from one tape to another or copied a movie that was airing on TV to VHS. Fast forward to today, and the same problem persists, albeit with a technological facelift. The Artificial Intelligence (AI) community and AI companies now find themselves embroiled in similar debates over copyright—rekindling old ethical and legal arguments in a modern context. What is notably different this time is that businesses are in the spotlight, rather than individuals.
In the 1980s and ‘90s, the rise of home video systems like VHS and audio cassette tapes offered consumers a tantalizing possibility: record your favourite TV shows, movies, and songs at home. While this was a revolutionary development, it posed a significant problem for copyright holders. These home recordings often constituted unauthorized reproductions of copyrighted material, directly infringing upon the creators’ intellectual property rights.
Several content producers and copyright organizations took legal actions to curb this practice. Even bureaus like the FBI got involved, threatening prosecution, with some who were actually prosecuted. However, policing every household proved to be an impractical solution. With time, technology evolved, and VHS tapes gave way to DVDs, and then to streaming services. The mass issue of individual copyright infringement for movies and TV shows gradually diminished as a result—who even bothers downloading torrents anymore when you have Amazon Prime Video for less than £10 a month?
In the early 2000s, with the advent of peer-to-peer file sharing and torrenting platforms, piracy took a more sophisticated turn. Now individuals could share entire libraries of songs and movies with the click of a button. Despite its reduced scale today, illegal downloading still exists, albeit less prominently due to the rise of platforms like YouTube, Spotify, and Netflix. These platforms offer a legal way to consume content, often for free, while generating revenue through advertising and data analytics and monthly subscriptions.
Fast forward to the present day and we find AI in the midst of similar copyright controversies. AI algorithms can produce text, images, and even music that closely mimic copyrighted material. AI companies are therefore attracting significant scrutiny.
Just like the VHS and cassette tape era, the ethical and legal implications of using AI to replicate copyrighted materials are contentious. The debate often hinges on whether AI-generated content is a derivative of the original work and thus constitutes infringement.
While the medium has changed—from tapes to torrents to algorithms—the core ethical and legal questions remain surprisingly consistent. Is it ethical to duplicate copyrighted content without authorization? And who is liable when this happens?
What has notably changed is the focus of scrutiny. During the VHS era, individuals were at the centre of the debate. Now, well-funded companies with powerful technologies are in the limelight, often for commercial purposes, thus raising the stakes considerably.
In the era of VHS, movies, and music piracy, technology eventually provided a way solution to the problem. Streaming services for movies and music have dramatically reduced the incidence of illegal copying by offering a convenient and affordable alternative. One wonders if a similar solution will emerge for AI-generated content.
In conclusion, as technology continues to evolve, the medium through which copyright infringement occurs will undoubtedly change. However, the core ethical and legal questions will remain. What is different this time from is the shift from individual users to corporate entities as the main actors. While technology may offer solutions, as it did with streaming services, the broader societal questions about intellectual property will likely persist, demanding continual re-examination and dialogue.
