OpenAI Commits to Greater Intellectual Property Management After Sora 2 Creates Videos of Well-Known Figures

OpenAI is vowing to offer copyright holders with “more granular control” regarding the creation of characters following its newly launched tool, Sora 2, generated a wave of clips featuring protected figures.

The Video Generator’s Launch and Early Concerns

The AI video generator, powered by AI, was introduced recently on an exclusive arrangement. The application allows users to create short videos based on a text prompt. Early reviews of the machine-created video feed showed copyrighted characters from popular shows including animated series, South Park, creature-collecting franchises and Rick and Morty.

Prior to launch of Sora 2, the company allegedly told artist representatives and production houses that if they did not want their copyrighted material replicated by the AI tool, they would have to opt out.

“Our team will collaborate with copyright owners to prevent character generation upon request and address removal inquiries.”

OpenAI stated that content owners can report unauthorized use via a dedicated reporting tool, but creators or studios cannot have a blanket opt-out.

CEO’s Response and Future Strategies

Recently, the company’s leader the chief executive announced in a blog post that the company had been gathering input from the community, copyright owners and other groups, and would make adjustments accordingly.

He mentioned that rights holders would be provided more detailed management over the creation of characters, similar to how people can choose to use their own image in the application, but with extra safeguards.

“We are hearing from a lot of rightsholders who are very excited for this new kind of ‘interactive fan fiction’ and think this new kind of engagement will accrue a lot of value to them, but want the ability to specify how their characters can be used (including not at all).”

Addressing Exceptions and Revenue Plans

Altman said that OpenAI would allow copyright owners to determine their approach and that there would be some unusual instances of content that bypass the system’s protections that should not.

He added that the organization would also “have to somehow make money” from content creation, and already the system was observing people generating much more material than anticipated per user. This could mean compensation to rights holders who grant permission their figures to be created.

“The exact model will take some trial and error to figure out, but we plan to start very soon,” he commented. “Our hope is that the new kind of engagement is even more valuable than the revenue share, but of course we want both to be valuable.”

He concluded by noting that there would be a high rate of evolution, comparable to the initial stages of ChatGPT, and there would be both successful choices and occasional errors.