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Unsealed Briefs in Authors’ Case v. Microsoft/OpenAI

631 points · 623 comments · papergirl

  1. Betelbuddy · · focus · HN ↗
    The Title should be: "Top Execs Knew Their Mass Book Piracy Was Illegal And Would Put Authors Out of Work"
    1. armchairhacker · · focus · HN ↗
      Are there any studies that show it has actually put more authors out of work than the prior trendline?
      1. afavour · · focus · HN ↗
        I feel like you're skipping over the illegal part. Something legal that puts authors out of work is quite different to blatant breaking of the law.
        1. rpdillon · · focus · HN ↗
          They're not skipping, they're keying on the exact same thing I am, which is whether or not authors have been put out of work because of AI, and to what degree. This is stated like it's a fact, but it is not a fact that is established, at least in my experience.
          1. aeon_ai · · focus · HN ↗
            And the use of the data largely being considered 'fair use' means that theft is an assertion based not in law, but in perception and ignorance.

            Intellectual property is a myth, as any hacker knows. A world where AI can solve diseases easily, and corporations can find ways to claim ownership over those novel solutions, is not one where we should be encouraging stronger IP laws.

            1. dofm · · focus · HN ↗
              Say you spend a hundred working hours on an ephemeral painting (that is, it won't last, it will fade, disintegrate in nature, can't be moved, etc.). You then have that painting scanned at high resolution, to make a limited series of a dozen very large prints.

              Scenario 1: a scalper takes the medium resolution image from your e-commerce website, and slaps it on a series of products they sell for their own profit on Amazon without your permission.

              Scenario 2: someone buys one of those prints, scans it to a high resolution, and then makes a series of slightly smaller, high quality prints that they sell for their own profit without your permission.

              Is it your contention that both of these things are something that should be allowed and the original artist has no recourse?

              Because it seems like your more specific concerns about e.g. disease cures could be addressed by targeted legislation creating new exemptions from intellectual property without destroying the means of protecting income from creative work.

              (Scenario 1 has happened to an artist I know, luckily with a piece of non-ephemeral work)

              1. ChickeNES · · focus · HN ↗
                Yes, art has no inherent economic value, and neither does the hundred hours you spent making it.
                1. afavour · · focus · HN ↗
                  Surely the market says otherwise?
                  1. ChickeNES · · focus · HN ↗
                    Well everywhere I look there’s AI generated images, songs, videos, articles, books, etc. Sure the quality is all over the place, but AI songs are charting /topping Spotify (not all of that is organic I grant), Suno exists, roughly a million other apps and sites to generate content, etc. And we have the article itself bemoaning that authors are losing jobs. Sounds like the market is speaking quite strongly to me.
                    1. afavour · · focus · HN ↗
                      I would argue that the stuff AI is replacing is not art, it’s mostly advertising. Posters and the like.

                      But “art has no value” is a statement way beyond that. Art collectors pay millions for original works. Copies go for pennies. People pay large sums for live music performances. Movies are a huge business. To me it seems the market indicates that art absolutely has value.

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