Why it matters: If anything illustrates the modern times that we live in, it's movies featuring a warning about not using them to train AI. Universal Pictures has added the message in the end credits of its new films to scare off AI companies, which often train their systems on content without compensating the IP holders.
Anyone dedicated enough to watch the end credits of How to Train Your Dragon in theaters when it arrived in June may have noticed a warning stating that Universal's titles "may not be used to train AI." The same message appears at the end of Jurassic World Rebirth and Bad Guys 2, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The warning comes with extra text that reads: "This motion picture is protected under the laws of the United States and other countries," adding that "Unauthorized duplication, distribution or exhibition may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution."
In some countries, the warning includes a citation of a 2019 European Union copyright law that allows creators to opt out of having their work used in scientific research by reserving their rights.
There has been controversy over AI companies using media for training purposes without consent since the systems first gained widespread use. Image generators have been sued several times for their ability to recreate copyrighted images or videos that appear to come directly from movies and TV shows. Disney and Universal sued Midjourney over it reproducing characters from Shrek, Ratatouille and The Lego Movie that look so similar to the films that it's assumed they were trained on the copyrighted work without permission.
AI firms usually turn to the fair use argument in these cases, which allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the rights holder. Authors have lost cases against Anthropic and Meta because of the fair use law, but AI companies could be held liable if they illegally downloaded or made copies of movies for training purposes.
Ultimately, a warning about not using a movie for AI training might do little to stop AI giants that are worth billions and backed by big tech, but it acts as another reminder that copyright holders aren't just going to lie down and let their properties be exploited – not without compensation, at least.