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The Writers Guild of America‘s east and west chapters have sent a strongly-worded letter to the heads of the major Hollywood studios, criticizing them for inaction as artificial intelligence appears to be taking copy-written scripts and using it to “plagiarize stolen works.”
The letters were sent on Thursday to Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon MGM Studios; Disney CEO Bob Iger; NBCUniversal Studios & Entertainment chair Donna Langley; Netflix co-CEO and president Ted Sarandos; Paramount Global co-CEOs George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins; Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Ravi Ahuja; and Warner Bros. Discovery president/CEO David Zaslav. In the letter, the WGAW and WGAE officers cite a Nov. 18 article by The Atlantic, noting that “tech companies have looted the studios’ intellectual property—a vast reserve of works created by generations of union labor—to train their artificial intelligence systems.”
The WGA officers go on to criticize the studios for doing “nothing to stop this theft. They have allowed tech companies to plunder entire libraries without permission or compensation. The studios’ inaction has harmed WGA members.”
The letter goes on to note that the WGA’s collective bargaining agreement “expressly requires the studios to defend their copyrights on behalf of writers,” and demands that the studios “take immediate legal action against any company that has used our members’ works to train AI systems.” Insiders note, however, that the WGA contract does not include any protection against AI training, hence the need to go public with these concerns.
Here is the text of the full letter:
The November 18 Atlantic article “There’s No Longer Any Doubt That Hollywood Writing is Powering AI” confirms what was already clear to so many: tech companies have looted the studios’ intellectual property—a vast reserve of works created by generations of union labor—to train their artificial intelligence systems. Having amassed billions in capital on this foundation of wholesale theft, these tech companies now seek to sell back to the studios highly-priced services that plagiarize stolen works created by WGA members and Hollywood labor.
The studios, as copyright holders of works written by WGA members, have done nothing to stop this theft. They have allowed tech companies to plunder entire libraries without permission or compensation. The studios’ inaction has harmed WGA members.
The Guild’s collective bargaining agreement—the MBA—expressly requires the studios to defend their copyrights on behalf of writers. MBA Article 50 provides that the studios hold “in trust” rights reserved to certain writers of original works. Writers who have separated rights in those works under Article 16.B retain all other rights in the material, including the right to use the works to train AI systems. As holders of those rights in trust, the studios have a fiduciary obligation to protect against the unauthorized use of the works for AI training purposes.
It’s time for the studios to come off the sidelines. After this industry has spent decades fighting piracy, it cannot stand idly by while tech companies steal full libraries of content for their own financial gain. The studios should take immediate legal action against any company that has used our members’ works to train AI systems.
Sincerely,
WGAW Officers
Meredith Stiehm, President
Michele Mulroney, Vice President
Betsy Thomas, Secretary-Treasurer
WGAE Officers
Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, President
Christopher Kyle, Secretary-Treasurer
Erica Saleh, Vice President, Film/TV/Streaming
