Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) introduced new legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives on April 9 that would require tech companies to reveal which copyrighted works were used to train their generative AI systems.
As outlined in a release, Schiff's "Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act" would require companies to file a notice with the Register of Copyrights revealing "all copyrighted works used in building or altering the training dataset" for generative AI system before the system is publicly released. The bill's provisions would apply both to new systems as well retroactively to previously released generative AI systems.
"This is about respecting creativity in the age of AI and marrying technological progress with fairness," Schiff (also now a candidate for the Senate) said in a statement, adding that regulators must balance "the immense potential of AI" with "the crucial need for ethical guidelines and protections."
The bill has the backing of numerous associations representing the creative community, including such book business–related organizations as the Authors Guild and the Copyright Clearance Center. The full text of the bill is available here.
