Copyright

Overview

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Defintion

Copyright is the legal right of authors, artists, and other creators to have both control and use of their work. Copyright law aims to protect these rights for all artists. More specifically, it seeks to protect artists work from infringement, as well as improve and advance the writing, teaching, and learning environment while simultaneously incentivizing writers to publish their works and rewarding them for their creative works.

Plagiarism versus Infringement

Plagiarism is the act of copying a piece of work which isn't your own. This can be done both intentionally or unintentionally. For instance, if someone copies another's work that is part of the public domain, this is an act of plagiarism and doesn't infringe upon copyright. On the other hand, if someone were to take a copyrighted work and edit it or claim it is as their own work, this would infringe upon copyright. It is important to note that the act of copying a copyrighted piece of work while usually does infringe upon copyright, really depends on how much work was altered, which determines if it falls under fair use or infringement. However, regardless of the outcome, this would also fall under plagiarism, making it an unethical act.

Fair Use

Though the copyright law does protect copyright works from being infringed upon, it is important to note that this law does allow the reproduction of certain parts of these works for free, which falls under fair use. However, there is specific criteria that must be followed in order for it to fall under fair use. This criteria includes the nature of the original work, the intention or purpose of the use, exactly how much of the work will be used, and the potential effects that the use will have on the original piece of work.

Some of examples of fair use may include using a copyrighted work for teaching, criticism, commentary or research. Some examples of this may include using a quote from a copyrighted work in a review, summarizing the work for a news report or broadcasting, or using the work in a court. It is important to note that all these instances only use a small portion of the original work with noncommercial intentions, and thus respect the original work and is fair use. In the event that an authors work is used for criticism, this still falls under fair use, despite the fact that the author may disagree with what it is said. In fact, it is important to note that a criticism of a work must refer to the text in order to make a proper case.

Case Study

One influential copyright case is the Anthropic vs Bartz case. While this case did reach a settlement before they could go to trial, this case highlights the importance of copyright and the all too easy way technology companies such as AI disregard it.

This case was brought a variety of authors whose work was used without permission in order to train AI. This particular company, Anthropic, an artificial intelligence company, must now pay $1.5 billion to the authors and their publishers, making it the largest payout in U.S. history for a copyright case. Before this settlement, the judge ruled that when Anthropic obtained the works legally, using them for AI training models was fair use and therefore allowed. More specially, this was allowed because these books would be transformed into something new, in that it will be using the work for something transformative such as teaching, research or commentary.

Despite this act of fair use, the judge found that Anthropic was knowingly illegally obtaining millions of works through online libraries. These online libraries included Pirate Library Mirror Library Genesis which are both online libraries that contain pirated books or illegally sold books that are done without permission from the author. It is important to note that Anthropic did this knowing that these libraries contained pirated books, showing that instead of asking permission form authors to sell their work they knowingly stole them in order to avoid the legal process of obtaining these works. The fact that this infringement upon copyright was done knowingly played a role in the large payout which would have been less if they had done this unknowingly.

The $1.5 billion settlement if for 500,000 out of 7 million works that have (as of now) been filed under this case. As a result, the owners of these works, which include the authors and publishers, can expect about $3,000 per title which would then be split amongst both of them. In the case that there is only one right holder to the work then the $3,000 will go only to them.

Role in Publishing Industry

Copyright guarantees that authors will have control over their work and receive the recognition they deserve. As mentioned earlier, copyright also protects original works from being disturbed, altered, or used without the permission of the author. Without this protection, however, it is clear that the publishing industry would decline, no longer being a safe and welcoming environment for authors. In other words, if there is no protection for original works, authors would be less inclined to writing and publishing their works, resulting in a major decline within the publishing industry.

With the continued use and advancements of technology however, questions on copyright have been asked. This can especially be seen in the increased use and dependency on AI, as seen in the Anthropic vs. Bartz case. The question must then be asked on what copyright law is today and how it should be in the future. However, there is one frequently overlooked question "of what copyright law will be in AI space."

Copyright provides a safe and protected environment within the publishing industry that provides recognition for authors, expanding this literary environment.